The BRI incorporates waist and hip measurements to calculate how round a persons midsection is relative to their height.
Recent studies point to BRI as a better predictor of disease risk and death than BMI.
Replacing BMI, however, might present a challenge.
Illustration by Mira Norian for Verywell Health
How Is BRI Different From BMI?
BMI was developed some 200 years ago, based on data from men, most of whom were White.
In recent years, however, health groups have begun warning of the limitations of BMI.
People have curves in different places, especially women, Thomas said.
She added that mathematically speaking, we look more like eggs.
Thomas and her team first described the BRI in a 2013 paper.
The model essentially places an oval around a persons body.
BRI scores range from 1 to 16, with higher numbers indicating rounder bodies.
Most people score between 1 and 10.
This digital calculatorlets you quickly calculate your BRI.
you might find the full equation in this paper.
Is BRI a Better Predictor of Health Outcomes?
The researchers divided participants into five groups based on their BRI.
When they graphed the data, it followed a U shape.
People with the highest BRIs had the highest risk of dying from any cause.
However, those with the lowest body roundness scores also had poor outcomes.
BRI appeared to estimate disease risk with more nuance and less uncertainty than BMI did.
That could be important for diagnosing metabolic disease in certain under-diagnosed groups.
We are definitely in a very early stage for these outcome studies, Bindlish said.
She said future studies should look into outcomes for certain disease types.
Will BRI Replace BMI?
Swapping BRI for BMI clinical practice doesnt require health systems to implement any new or expensive tools and technology.
Growth charts for children are based on BMI.
Drug dosing is based on BMI, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Thomas said BRI could supplement, rather than substitute for, BMI.
Taking both measurements could give clinicians a fuller picture of that persons health.
The most accurate body composition analysis will come from a body composition scan.
The gold standard ismagnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but it can be expensive and difficult to access.
A cheaperdual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scancan also give highly accurate results.
Some boutique gyms and fitness centers offer body composition scans, too.
I feel like that’s where we should gonot just swap out one index for another index.
Younger generationsare more likelyto ask their healthcare provider to skip the weigh-in or not to tell them their weight.
It has to be done in a very safe environment.
Those include BMI, BRI, waist-to-hip ratio, and imaging scans.
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