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BMI and the metabolic rates of brain and body

International Journal of Obesity volume 35, page 1139 (2011)Cite this article

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Peters et al. recently published a graph showing an unexplained correlation between body mass index (BMI) and the ratio of resting body metabolism (X) to brain metabolism (Y) (208 subjects; r=0.553; P<0.001).1 From this they concluded that the BMI may be ‘just a one-to-one mapping of the body–brain–energy balance’. I suggest an explanation for the correlation and comment on the use of the BMI.

Brain oxygen consumption was calculated from measured brain mass using a previously established rate per gram. Resting whole-body metabolic rate generally relates closely to total body mass (TBM). Therefore X/Y, the ratio of body metabolism to brain metabolism, would probably have correlated strongly with TBM/(brain mass). As for the BMI, this generally correlates not just with percentage body fat as is usually emphasized, but also with TBM. Presumably, therefore, TBM/(brain mass) correlated with TBM. That must have been so anyway if the brain masses varied little or, as is typically true of humans and mammals generally,2 they varied less than proportionately with TBM. (The correlation between brain masses and BMI was insignificant.1) We may conclude that the correlation between X/Y and BMI lacks physiological meaning.

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References

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  1. School of Life Sciences, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    R F Burton

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  1. R F Burton
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Correspondence to R F Burton.

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Burton, R. BMI and the metabolic rates of brain and body. Int J Obes 35, 1139 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.259

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