In 1972 Body Mass Index, BMI was put forth by physiologist Ancel Keys in his analysis of Seven Countries Study heart disease epidemiological data as the best available measure of obesity. This work culminated more than 20 years of effort by Keys to discredit the accepted measure of obesity, weight relative to height, along with a major public health campaign in the United States to fight heart disease through weight control. Here, I retrace his campaign to replace weight as a measure of obesity and analyze its methodology and relationship to the broader research field of heart disease epidemiology. I also explore why the epidemiological community accepted BMI despite Keys's failure to demonstrate that either it or adiposity (body fat content), were superior as predictors of heart disease—one of the Seven Countries Study's central aims.

中文翻译：

---

肥胖症的缩小化：从1950年代到1970年代，Ancel Keys是BMI的起源，而在美国却忽略了过重的健康危害。

1972年，身体质量指数由生理学家Ancel Keys在对七个国家研究心脏病的流行病学数据进行分析时提出，是衡量肥胖的最佳方法。这项工作使Keys花费了20多年的努力，以使肥胖，体重相对于身高的公认标准失去信誉，并在美国开展了一项重要的公共卫生运动，以控制体重来对抗心脏病。在这里，我回顾了他的运动，即代替体重来衡量肥胖，并分析了它的方法论及其与心脏病流行病学更广泛研究领域的关系。我还将探讨为什么Keys未能证明BMI或肥胖（身体脂肪含量）在预测心脏病方面是优于BMI的流行病学界为什么接受的，BMI是七个国家研究的主要目标之一。