Petition · past parliament · Department of Health and Social Care

Review Government use of BMI, and definitions for obesity and overweight

Closed 62 signatures

What the petition asks

This scale does not take into consideration muscle mass, bone density or water retention and its use can cause or exacerbate eating disorders.
The Government should base policy on an improved system that uses medical advances to assess if a person is a healthy weight.

There are various factors to take into consideration to determine a person's healthy weight. I believe the BMI system is flawed and obsolete.

The Government should not encourage people to determine their own healthy weight based on just their height and weight, or use this measure to inform policy.

Timeline

9 Nov 2020 Petition opened for signatures
9 May 2021 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 62
Status Closed
Department Department of Health and Social Care
Opened 9 Nov 2020
Closed 9 May 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.