What's the Government's BMI?

CNSNews.com - Obesity Rating for Every American Must Be Included in Stimulus-Mandated Electronic Health Records, Says HHS

The chubby hands of big government are reaching too far, in my opinion. According to the above CNS article, one piece of information the government will be recording on our new electronic health records is our BMI. This story went largely uncovered, which is troublesome. Have we become too used to government intervention into our lives we don't even bat an eyelash when it pokes it's nose further into our business? HHS readily admits the information will be "used" to determine patients' risk for weight related health problems. This is a twisted road we are on. What may be used to provide appropriate healthcare at one turn, may be used to ration or deny healthcare at a later turn.

Meet my eldest son, he is 15 and has a BMI of 22. A year ago his BMI was 24, which for his age, height, and weight, was considered to be in the overweight category. He is not what one would call a rail by any means, but the boy doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. He is muscular and athletic in build, but because some illogical number is applied to him, he was lectured about his eating habits and proper nutrition by the base pediatrician at his last physical. So what was the difference between one year's BMI and the next? It wasn't a drastic change in his eating. The boy grew 8 inches.

BMI is a ridiculously arbitrary number. Unlike our eye color, blood type, and birthdate, BMI is medical information that can and will fluctuate, sometimes quite wildly. It has no business being on our permanent electronic medical records and the government has no business telling me or my son what his BMI is or should be.