Can BMI be used by everyone?
For most people, BMI provides a good measure of obesity. However, BMI does not provide actual information on body composition (i.e. the proportions of muscle, bone, fat, and other tissues that make up a person's total body weight), and may not be the most appropriate indicator to determine health status for certain groups of people.
Examples of BMI limitations: Athletes with dense bones and well-developed muscles or people with large body frames may be obese by BMI standards (i.e. they have BMIs greater than 30), but yet have little body fat. On the other hand, inactive people may seem to have acceptable weights when, in fact, they may have too much body fat. Similarly, a petite gymnast may be considered underweight but not unhealthy. BMI, when used for children and adolescents who are still growing, pregnant women, people with large body frames, or petite and highly muscular individuals, should be interpreted cautiously (Source: CDC).