May 12, 2006
Tom Cruise: Another BMI Casualty
Maybe super chunk Tom Cruise hit the "Vanilla Sky" ice cream a bit too hard, or perhaps he had more than "A Few Good (Gingerbread) Men." Either way, according to the federal government's ridiculous standards, Tom Cruise at 5'7" and 170 pounds is considered officially fat.
While his on-screen persona in "Mission: Impossible III", Ethan Hunt, performs daring stunts and does battle to save the world from evil weapons traders, Cruise -- who apparently should have starred in "Thighs of Thunder" and "Top Gut" -- is the victim of the very same flawed standard fueling the over-hyped "obesity epidemic" today.
This standard, called the Body Mass Index (BMI), is "Far and Away" the worst available measure of obesity since it only takes height and weight -- not muscle mass -- into consideration. A BMI of 25 or over means you're technically "overweight" and a BMI over 30 means you're "obese." Tom Cruise, with a BMI of 26.6, is officially overweight, but he's in good company. Celebrities like George Clooney, Will Smith, and Matthew McConaughey are also considered fat according to the misleading standard. Check out how you stack up on our BMI Scale today.
