This Student's Response About BMI Is Going Viral For All The Right Reasons

Calculating one's body mass index was once considered a valid form of assessing health.

However, in recent years, doctors eschewed BMI as a gauge for healthy size based on the fact it accounts only for the height and weight of an individual; BMI does not take into account a person's bone, muscle and fat proportions and, according to NPR, was never intended to be used to measure obesity.

When one very wise middle schooler was asked to calculate her BMI in class, the impromptu essay she penned in response became a lesson in loving oneself even we adults could learn from, honestly.

Her response was shared to Facebook by MacLeodCartoons, a page apparently run by a friend of the girl's parents.

Posted by MacLeodCartoons on Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The eighth grader wrote,

Now, I'm not going to even open my laptop to calculate my BMI. And I'll tell you why. Ever since I can remember, I've been a 'bigger girl' and I'm completely fine with that; I'm strong and powerful. When you put a softball or a bat in my hand, they are considered lethal weapons. But, at the beginning of the year, I started having very bad thoughts when my body was brought into a conversation. I would wear four bras to try and cover up my back fat, and I would try to wrap ace bandages around my stomach so I would look skinnier. So my lovely mother did what any parent would do when they noticed something wrong with her child, she took me to my doctor. My doctor and I talked about my diet and how active I am. He did a couple of tests and told me I was fine. He said though I'm a bit overweight, he's not going to worry about me based on how healthy I am. So this is where I don't calculate my BMI because my doctor, a man who went to college for eight years studying children's health, told me my height and weight are right on track. I am just beginning to love my body, like I should, and I'm not going to let some outdated calculator and a middle school gym teacher tell me I'm obese, because I'm not. My BMI is none of your concern because my body and BMI are perfect and beautiful just the way they are.

Eat it, outdated measurements whose uses have long been misinterpreted. You have no business here.

Citations: Eighth-Grader Epically Explains Why Your BMI Is Bullsh*t in Viral Letter (Cosmopolitan), Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus (NPR)