I just recently came across a very interesting paper Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874)—the average man and indices of obesity by Garabed Eknoyan published in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation in 2007
It gives some of the history of the BMI since it was ‘rediscovered’ in the 1960s, & its use particularly in the Framingham study & has a particularly useful bibliography
Frustratingly (for me) I still have not found where the magic numbers 20, 25 & 30 come from, but I shall keep working on it
I was amused to see that the author found it necessary to point out that “Quetelet analysed data from both genders and highlighted differences where they existed; despite his exclusive use of the singular masculine in the title of his book and writings”
Clearly in the world of American nephrology in the Noughties the male most definitely does not embrace the female
