Hence, this guideline specifically excludes pregnant women. Calculating BMI is simple, rapid, and inexpensive. The classification can be applied generally to adults. See Appendix II for comments about obesity and its classification in children. For example, relative risk for CVD increases in a graded fashion with increasing BMI in all population groups, although absolute risk in obese versus nonobese persons depends on the summed contribution of all risk factors.
Examples are the presence of edema, high muscularity, muscle wasting, or for very short people.
For example, older persons often have lost muscle mass and have more fat for a given BMI than younger persons, women may have more fat for a given BMI than men, and persons with clinical edema may have less fat for a given BMI than persons without edema. Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic of Obesity. Report of the World Health Organization Consultation of Obesity. Pregnant women who, on the basis of their prepregnant weight, would be classified as obese may encounter certain obstetrical risks. However, the inappropriateness of weight reduction during pregnancy is well recognized.