The French Parliament passed a measure Friday banning the use of excessively thin models on the runway. Part of a larger Health Bill, the measure won a majority vote in the National Assembly lower house of Parliament and will move on to the Senate next week. Other countries, including Spain and Israel, have passed…

The formula used to calculate body mass index (BMI) has erroneously made tall people seem fatter than they are and shorter people seem thinner, according to mathematicians who say that it didn't take into account that a person's weight grows with their height. So an Oxford mathematician has come up with a new formula…

America — third-fattest country in the world, according to the WHO — has a schizophrenic relationship with food. Could the union of obesity activists and eating-disorder advocates generate any real insight? Strangely, at a recent panel, it kinda did.

Shocking yet true, body mass index isn't always the best indicator of a person's physical and mental health. But know what is? Asking a person if he or she thinks she should weigh less. The desire to drop pounds due to "social constructs that surround ideal body types", it turns out, is a pretty good indicator of…

We've sort of covered this topic before, so we're not shocked: Apparently, a person's body mass index (BMI) might not be the best way to determine the healthiness of their weight. BMI only gives a ratio of weight to height. It sorta leaves out some big things like, fat versus muscle and frame size. We expect this to…

If you've ever calculated your BMI (body mass index) and groaned at the category you found yourself in, you're not alone. And a post on the blog Feministe links to a collection of photos put together by a woman named Kate Harding. Harding asked friends — and any other women — to volunteer photographs, height and…