The physical fitness of seafarers to do their jobs has been in the news again, with fresh concern over the number failing their medical tests.
With an “obesity epidemic” said to be sweeping the developed world, it might surprise some that fish-loving Norway is finding some seafarers being classed as unfit for work because they are overweight under the widely-used but by no means infallible Body Mass Index (BMI) method.
Launching a new seafarers’ fitness website this month, the head of the Norwegian Maritime Directorate (NMD) said seafarers were losing their health certificates because their BMI scores were over 35 and were becoming “vulnerable to diabetes and heart conditions through lack of exercise and poor diet”.
The ideal BMI is said to be between 18 and 25, while a score of over 25 is classed as overweight and over 30 obese. In 2010, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, 57% of males in Norway (average BMI 26.28) and 55% of Danes (BMI 25.75) were overweight or obese, while the corresponding figures in India (BMI 22.50) and The Philippines (BMI 22.73) – two major labour-supplying countries – were 20% and 22%, respectively.
One P&I Club recommends that seafarers undertaking pre-employment medical screening should be classed as temporarily unfit if their BMI scores are between 33 and 34.5 and as unfit if over 34.5.
A 2011 study into obesity rates found 71% of male Danish seafarers were overweight, while severe obesity was most common among officers aged 45-64. Higher levels of obesity in the general population also means that new entrants are more likely to be classed as unfit for work. The survey found 53% of Danish male cadets, based on their BMI scores, were overweight.
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Source: BIMCO, Andrew Guest
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BMI is not correct input in case person is doing bodybuilding or powerlifting. Fat percentage would be better option.