Beyond the body mass index: a new obesity diagnosis to bring it closer to reality
Nearly two centuries ago , Adolphe Quetelet , a Belgian astronomer and mathematician interested in defining the characteristics of the “normal man,” began collecting data on body measurements from Western European men . He concluded that weight was roughly related to the square of height , which led to the formulation of the index that bears his name in 1833 . However, Quetelet ‘s proposal was…