Why does BMI have units of kg/m^2 when we are three dimensional? Wouldn’t kg/m^3 or g/cm^3 be more accurate?

Question

Why does BMI have units of kg/m^2 when we are three dimensional? Wouldn’t kg/m^3 or g/cm^3 be more accurate?

In: 100

Answer 1

You‘re thinking about it the wrong way. The thought doesn‘t go „kg/m^2 makes so much sense, lets build a system around it.“ Instead it goes „we have this system that takes into account several factors that we know have an impact on health and are linked together. If we do the maths, the final unit is kg/m^2 , whatever that may mean.“