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Gwyn Weatherburn, forwarding a message from John Garrow, wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > *From:* [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* 09 February 2005 11:15 > *To:* [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: BMI: the theory > > Thank you, Joan, for sending on this correspondence to me. I do not > think Ronan M Conroy is quite fair in writing: "But essentially the > inimitable Garrow more or less pulled the cut-off of 30 out of his > head." and I do not know if "inimitable" is complementary or not . The adjective 'inimitable' is intended as a compliment! The publication of 'Treat Obesity Seriously' was a landmark. For the record, I admire the way in which Garrow used simple, easily-memorable cutpoints for the BMI categories. There has been a lot of debate as to whether they can be improved upon, but what is undeniable is that they got people thinking along the right lines. The book, indeed, achieved what its title advocated, and the simplicity of the classification of BMI was a major help. When I say that the cutpoints were 'pulled out of his head', they were a judgement call on the available data, but time has proved their usefulness amply. Sophisticated statistical models have offered no significant improvement that would justify making the system more cumbersome. My sincere apologies to Dr Garrow - my admiration for the soundness of his judgement made it sound like he made it all up. This certainly wasn't the case. > > I would be happy to write a piece about the history of BMI and obesity > if anyone want to know about it, but briefly the background is this. And I think a lot of people would indeed be interested. The research is 'out there' in the literature, but the politics (national and professional) would make fascinating reading. -- Ronan M Conroy ([log in to unmask]) Senior Lecturer in Biostatistics Royal College of Surgeons Dublin 2, Ireland +353 1 402 2431 (fax 2764) -------------------- Just say no to drug reps http://www.nofreelunch.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the originator of the message. This footer also confirms that this email message has been scanned for the presence of computer viruses. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifies and with authority, states them to be the views of The Royal College Of Surgeons in Ireland. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------