Insurer Trims Premiums for People Who Lose Weight and Keep It Off

The Pantagraph in Bloomington, Illinois printed an Associated Press report: When you lose weight and keep it off, a new program started by an insurance company in Hartford, Connecticut gives people discounts on life insurance. Phoenix Cos. Inc. offers discounts up to 20 percent on life insurance policies to customers whose BMI is verified by a doctor to be 19 to 25.

While your Body Mass Index or BMI is not a reliable way of measuring body fat, it is used by doctors and insurance companies to easily and conveniently define whether someone is overweight or obese. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines obesity as a BMI of 30 or more; people between 25 and 30 are considered overweight. BMI is a ratio that’s based mainly on height and weight, and this number doesn’t take into account other factors.

What’s more important than your BMI ratio is percentage body fat, nutrition and physical activity. Obesity is a sign of someone’s lifestyle and self-image. These can be changed without medical treatments. Hypnosis is much more effective in changing lifestyles and self concepts than existing medical treatments according to researchers.

The American Medical Association said there’s not necessarily a correlation between good health and BMI ratio.