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Family

A girl was asked about BMI on a test. Her answer was mic-droppingly great.

When an Indiana eighth-grader was asked about BMI in class, she took her teacher to school.

A few weeks before this student got a BMI assignment, every student in the class was weighed in front of their peers and made to calculate their BMI, or body mass index. According to the student's mother, her daughter came home in tears after the exercise. She's perfectly healthy, she eats well and she's active ... but according to her BMI, she was "obese."

Body mass index is known to be a pretty flawed system of measuring someone's weight in relation to their height. It often oversimplifies complex health issues by putting people into one of four categories — underweight, normal, overweight, or obese.

Which is why this student's frustration led her to do some extra writing on her class assignment about BMI.

Here's the question she had to answer:

She could have easily recited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of BMI in her answer:

"Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. A high BMI can be an indicator of high body fatness. BMI can be used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems but it is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual."

And she could have easily just typed her measurements into one of the many online BMI calculators.

But she didn't. Instead, she gave an amazing explanation of exactly why BMI is an outdated, inaccurate way of measuring overall health. Here. I'll let her explain:

"BMI is an outdated way of defining normal weight, under weight, over weight, and obesity by taking one person's height divided by their weight. One of the formula's obvious flaws, explains Alan Aragon, the Men's Health Weight Loss Coach and nutritionist in California, is that it has absolutely no way of discriminating fat and muscle. So, let's say there is a fairly athletic woman who maintains a decent diet, she's five feet, six inches, and she weighs 190 pounds, but 80% of her body is muscle. That doesn't matter when calculating BMI! This woman's BMI would be 30.7, and she would be labeled obese. Does that make sense to you? Because it sure doesn't make sense to me."


"How could someone who stays fit, eats healthy, and has a low metabolism be in danger of heart disease and diabetes? Oh, that's right, because she isn't in danger of obesity and heart disease. This woman is active and healthy and she is the furthest thing from obese. In conclusion, BMI is an outdated way of determining a person's body health, and it's a measurement that should not be used in a school setting where students are already self-conscious and lacking confidence in their unique bodies."

"Now, I'm not going to even open my laptop to calculate my BMI. And I'll tell you why. Ever since I can remember, I've been a "bigger girl" and I'm completely fine with that; I'm strong and powerful. When you put a softball or a bat in my hand, they are considered lethal weapons. But, at the beginning of the year, I started having very bad thoughts when my body was brought into a conversation. I would wear four bras to try and cover up my back fat, and I would try to wrap ace bandages around my stomach so I would look skinnier. So my lovely mother did what any parent would do when they noticed something wrong with her child, she took me to my doctor. My doctor and I talked about my diet and how active I am."

"He did a couple tests and told me I was fine. He said though I'm a bit overweight, he's not going to worry about me based on how healthy I am. So this is where I don't calculate my BMI because my doctor, a man who went to college for eight years studying children's health, told me my height and weight are right on track. I am just beginning to love my body, like I should, and I'm not going to let some outdated calculator and a middle school gym teacher tell me I'm obese, because I'm not. My BMI is none of your concern because my body and BMI are perfect and beautiful just the way they are."

Mic drop.

GIF from "The Colbert Report."

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Pets

The most inspiring pet stories of 2024

Leading pet brand Nulo knows every cat and dog has the power to be incredible.

via Keswick Mountain Rescue Team/Instagram, Cat Protection/Youtube

Incredible pets deserve incredible food.

2024 was a year filled with heartwarming stories that reminded us of the incredible bond between humans and their furry companions. From acts of bravery to heartwarming gestures, these pets made a huge impact on the lives of their owners… and the lives of many, many more.

It’s stories like these that continue to inspire leading pet nutrition brand Nulo, which is committed to helping pets live their best lives with functional, delicious and nutritious food. Through their innovative and intentional formulas, Nulo fuels incredible cats and dogs just like the ones below each and every day.

Enjoy some stories below of 2024’s goodest boys and girls — courageous dogs, trauma-informed kitties and much, much more —that really show the unwavering love and loyalty animals bring into our lives. Their inspiring actions fuel incredible.

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When a 71-year-old man went unconscious and collapsed during a steep hike, his golden retriever and a black labrador instinctively broke up into a rescue team — the smart and resourceful labrador going off to look for help, and the loyal goldie staying by its owner's side. Sometimes it’s smart to have two of “man’s best friends.”

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Marley, a seven-year-old, black and white feline known for his "incredible gift of empathy” won Cat Protection's National Cat of the Year 2024 for the way he comforts women who have been enslaved, exploited and trafficked and staying at the Caritas Bakhita Safe House in London. He’s known to often leave a reassuring paw on guests’ legs to “let them know they’re not alone,” a gesture often called “the first kindness they’ve experienced in years.”

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

In early 2024, Kobe, a four-year-old husky with an extraordinary sense of smell, began digging obsessively in the yard. At first the pooch’s owner, Chanell Bell, thought this was just typical behavior, but soon discovered that Kobe had indeed detected a dangerously large cloud of natural gas that would have not only been seriously life-threatening to her, but the entire neighborhood. It’s like they say, “the nose knows.”

Eight-year-old golden retriever Roger, may have failed his drug-sniffing training in Taiwan, but it turns out he has a knack for rescue operations during natural disasters. After a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck, Roger dug through the rubble of a collapsed building to locate the body of one of the 13 people killed in the quake, offering closure to a grieving family. This earned him the nickname of “the pride of Taiwan” on social media.

Dogs don’t only save humans — sometimes they rescue other animals as well.

When folks scrolling through the X account called “Animals Dying” saw a video of a creature swimming through murky water with a deer fawn in its jaws, they probably assumed it was an alligator enjoying its latest meal. But to everyone’s surprise and delight, it was actually a Labrador Retriever making sure the sweet little fawn didn’t drown.

Once a stray, 12-year-old Cilla found her home at Outwoods Primary School in Warwickshire, England, where she calms anxious students, inspires a community of cat lovers on X, and has even used her social media celebrity to help raise £5,000 to restock the school library — a place she loves to lounge in.

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In July, Bloodhound puppy and K-9 unit member Remi used his powerful nose to help an autistic and non-verbal boy who had gotten lost find his way back home. Deputy B. Belk, Remi’s partner, used a piece of sterile gauze to collect the scent from the boy’s forearms and the back of his neck and had Remi “reverse” track backwards for about half a mile to locate the child’s home in a nearby neighborhood.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

When a beautiful pooch named Gita saw her 84-year-old owner fall and hurt his leg, she ran down to the main road, and refused to move until someone stopped to help. Eventually she was seen by a man named Deputy Wright, who tried to get Gita into his patrol car, but the dog wouldn’t budge. When Gita did finally bolt off, Wright followed her down to where the man had been stranded, and was able to help him. Without her protection, who knows if the man would have been found in time? “The loyalty and heroism of our furry friends never cease to amaze us,” Wright would end up writing on Facebook.

If there’s an incredible furry friend in your own life, nothing says “thank you” quite like a nourishing meal. Check out Nulo for a variety of recipes sure to be loved by your beloved pet.

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Science

'Forgotten' water harvesting system transforms 'barren wasteland' into thriving farmland

The half moons even help replenish the water table.

Credit: Andrew Millison/YouTube

Half moons allow water to be retained for agriculture and even replenish the groundwater table.

When the Great Green Wall initiative began in 2007, it was just a vision of a big, beautiful wall of greenery spanning the width of Africa to keep the Sahara Desert from encroaching on the rest of the continent. Despite years of successes and failures, celebration and criticism, we can see the progress being made as an inspiring example of how local and global collaboration can help counter the effects of climate change.

Just a few years ago, the Sahel region at the northern edge of Senegal was a "barren wasteland" where nothing had grown for 40 years. But the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and local villagers teamed up to regreen the area, bringing back agriculture, improving the economy of the people who live there, and preventing the climate migration that desertification ultimately leads to.

How do you hold back the world's largest hot desert?

According to Andrew Millison, a permaculture designer and instructor at Oregon State University, the Sahara desert has expanded by about 10% in the past 100 years. The idea behind the Great Green Wall is to build a barrier of vegetation to stop that expansion, which threatens the ecosystems and economies of the Sahel—the region south of the Sahara that separates the desert from the savanna.

In a video from February of 2024, Millison shared the collaborative nature and progress of one Great Green Wall project in Senegal, including the rejuvenation of 300,000 hectares (about the equivalent of 600,000 football fields) of seemingly unusable land.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

"The process started with the community-based participatory planning," WFP program policy officer Bakalilou Diaby shares in the video. "By the end of this process, it was agreed that one of the major action is the land reclamation or land recovery project."

At first, it took some time to convince the community that the regreening of the degraded landscape was even possible, but after learning about how to improve the land, "the people believe and they are convinced, and they are also committed," says Diaby.

The 'forgotten' half-moon method of harvesting water

One of the keys to this particular regreening project is using long-forgotten techniques for harvesting water. When soil is crusted and sunbaked and hard as cement, rainwater doesn't penetrate and it's impossible for plants to take root. The solution? Half-moon shaped ditches dug in such a way that water flows into them on the straight side with an embankment built on the rounded side to hold the water in. Each half moon is 4 meters in diameter and takes about a day for one person to dig.

Local vegetation domesticated on the Sahel thousands of years ago, such as sorghum and millet, are planted in these half moons, rehabilitating the land and feeding the local community at the same time.

"This is nothing new—we have not invented a technology here," explains Sebastian Muller from the WFP resilience team. "The half moon technology is actually an endogenous technology to the Sahel and has been forgotten over time. We have rescued it from the past."

Not only does capturing water in the half moons help with the immediate need to grow food and contribute to the Great Green Wall, but 10% to 15% of the water will actually soak into the ground to replenish the water table, creating a more sustainable agricultural process.

"That way we actually achieve a balance of water. So we are not depleting the water resources, but we're making sure that we keep enough water in the ground for future generations," says Muller.

Other crops such as okra and tomatoes are grown in horizontal horticulture beds, and between those ditches grow trenches with fruit trees in them.

Engaging indigenous wisdom for sustainable farming

"This is just a very first step in this pilot," adds Muller. "We'll also be using other native species that will be planting in the pits that will drive the rejuvenation of the soil and the protection of the soil as the system starts growing into abundance and producing food and life for the people here."

According to Muller, the "syntopic farming" methods being employed were developed in Brazil and are based on global indigenous practices that mimic the way natural forests grow and thrive. These natural growing dynamics make agriculture more sustainable, continually replenishing the land rather than continually depleting it—truly a testament to global collaboration carried out at the local level with local community support.

"This project was really, really interesting because the World Food Programme wanted to demonstrate how you could take the most devastated areas and turn them back into resilient, food-producing locations," says Millison. "And they specifically placed their project on a very degraded landscape that had been taken down to bare, compacted earth."

If this desertified "wasteland" can be rejuvenated so successfully, it provides hope for recovering other land that many people might write off as useless or barren. As climate change continues to alter the Earth's landscape—literally—we'll need to keep working together both locally and globally to find solutions like the Great Green Wall and support their implementation.

You can learn more about successful permaculture practices on Andrew Millison's YouTube channel.


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Family

A new father shares why creating an email address for his baby boy is the perfect gift

His first email may end up being the best one he ever gets.

Canva.com

An X post by a new father has been making other new parents take note online. It’s regarding a gift and investment he wishes to give his newborn son for when he gets older. It’s not a savings bond. It’s not a car. It’s not even an heirloom. It’s an email address.

@Mellumjr on X shared that he created a new email address for his son. He intends on sending every photo and achievement his child has made to that email address then giving his son the password to that email address when he gets older. This way, the child can have a time capsule full of memories and thoughts from his father during that time to look through and read.



Comments overflowed all over social media, praising this idea.

“So cool! I wish I knew that before.”

“This is the silver lining!..he will always have that!....what a beautiful resource for your son 🥰💕”

“I don’t have kids, but I think this is a fantastic idea!”

Others had already taken the initiative.

“I actually did that for my daughter years before I got pregnant,” replied @Timberowl. “I would write to her about how I couldn’t wait to meet her some day. I sent pics of her ultrasounds and how excited I was. I emailed her while I was in labor, expressing my fear and excitement.”

“I started this in 2016, and have about 300 emails sent to my daughter. Just don’t know when to give her the pw and email. Maybe when she gets married one day,” @juju_f_baby12 commented.

“Exactly what I did for all my 3 kids,” said @heyfarrukh. “My eldest turned 12 two days ago and got the password. All three are also a part of a family photo album shared on Google Photos highlighting their achievements and memorable moments.”

Ever since the invention of the photograph, parents have been taking pictures of their children for prosperity purposes and memories to carry with them and to pass on to future generations. Even before then there were painted portraits for the same reason. While it is special to have a a physical family photo album or scrapbook for your child, the sad reality is that there is a chance it could be lost, misplaced, or destroyed in an accident.

In the digital age, it’s common for parents to save pictures in the cloud and set up hard drives as well to make sure that those images of their kids can be safely retained. One can argue that the best method is to have pictures saved in the cloud, on a hard drive, and with physical copies to cover all bases. Even critical commenters pointed out to @Mellumjr that the email address could automatically be erased if it wasn't regularly active.

But it’s not just photos that make this a wonderful gift to a child. With an email in their name, with those pictures could come messages from the past from a new parent. Videos of moments with time stamps and comments made from the parent to their future adult child. An archive of not just pictures memories that could be revisited on other platforms, but also one-on-one, just-for-them correspondence. A modern, more convenient version of parents writing letters to their future kids.

Who knows, it could turn into their day-to-day email address in which they could revisit their past whenever they want, and recall how much they were loved. There’s no one way to save a memory. Just make sure you have enough storage space, on the bookshelf or in your data plan.

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Health

Conflict experts share the 1 sentence that can stop an argument before things get heated

Here's how to shut it down before it starts.

via Canva/Photos

A woman skillfully stops an argument.

Has getting into a heated argument with your significant other, a coworker, or a child ever solved anything? Probably not. Heated arguments often lead people down the dark path of personal attacks, animosity, and getting so riled up that they stop making sense altogether. However, conflict is a natural and healthy part of our daily lives, so it can be very productive when we know how to have productive disagreements.

"If no one ever argues, you’re not likely to give up on old ways of doing things, let alone try new ones. Disagreement is the antidote to groupthink,” organizational psychologist Adam Grant said, according to Psychology Today. “We’re at our most imaginative when we’re out of sync." So the big question is, how do we prevent heated arguments from happening and steer them to more productive territory instead?

How to stop an argument from happening

A group of researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that it’s essential for people to create a safe environment to have a discussion, and the key to doing so is to ask open-ended questions that lead to points of agreement. Specifically, the researchers say to use “I” statements, such as “I feel frustrated” or “I feel concerned” when expressing yourself during the disagreement. But the best phrase is one that clearly directs the discussion toward agreement.

The best way to stop an argument is with the phrase: “I’d actually like to focus on all the things we agree on.”


conflict, arguments, disagreementsCoworkers come to an agreement.via Canva/Photos

There are 3 big reasons why the phrase is so effective at stopping arguments from happening. First, the phrase immediately changes the mindset of both people from the areas where they disagree to one of agreement. We are no longer arguing about why we like or don’t like pineapple on pizza. Instead, we’re not focusing on the toppings we enjoy, such as pepperoni or black olives. The person we disagree with is no longer an enemy but a collaborator.

Another big reason “I’d actually like to focus on all the things we agree on” is such an effective phrase because it extinguishes the other person’s anger. When we search for a way to agree, we suddenly become an unappealing target for the other person’s rage.

Finally, this phase makes you the good guy in the disagreement because you are looking for a positive solution. You’ve just taken a right turn onto the high road and have become the rational party in the conversation. This tactic is especially effective when a third party, such as a boss or sibling, is involved in the disagreement and wants to see who is acting in good faith. This will encourage the person you’re having a dispute with to be more cooperative to save face.

conflict, arguments, disagreementsCoworkers come to an agreement.via Canva/Photos

The key is to be genuine about looking for agreement and have a sincere tone when stating your approach. Once the potential fight has been quelled, you can work together to reach the best possible agreement.

Learning how to prevent heated arguments can strengthen the relationship with the person you disagree with. Resolving a conflict together makes their relationship stronger and more enduring. So, a conflict can be a gift that you can use to skillfully bring yourself closer to someone. The key is to focus on the areas of agreement and to be sincere so you can resolve the issue together without leaving any lingering resentment.

relationships
Pop Culture

Jimmy Fallon asked people to share 'weird' stories about their roommate, and the answers were wild

Living with strangers is never dull.

Giphy

At least you won't be lonely?

Let’s be honest—roommates can be weird. I admit, I was the weird roommate on more than one occasion. When I was in my 20s I remember thinking it would be cool to keep a minifridge in my room, you know, so I’d never have to leave it. That idea was short-lived after my roommates angrily showed me the electric bill for the month. Whoops.

As whimsical as sitcoms make it seem, the truth is it can be hard to blend different personalities—one person’s quirk is often another person’s character defect. But still, living with someone else is usually a necessity at some point and if you live in an expensive city, the need could be lifelong. So, learning to embrace it all is probably a good idea. At the very least, some oddball roommates make for some pretty great stories.

In September 2022, The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon asked his X (formerly Twitter) audience to share “something funny, weird or embarrassing” about their roommate as part of his #Hashtags segment.



Indeed, the stories people shared were funny, weird, and embarrassing (and some were also quite gross), but each relatable in their own way, at least for anyone who has ever had to share their space with a stranger.

Here are a few fun anecdotes that’ll have you laughing (and maybe considering living solo forever):

Sometimes, having a weird roommate can be kind of cool. Their eccentricity can help bring out our own sense of humor…

gif of man looking at aquarium

What fun.

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“If my roommate and I were going somewhere together and he beat me getting ready, he would play the @Jeopardy theme song at max volume until I walked outside.” – @claydoughrocks

“My roommate would always need to go on a drive to “clear her head” it was actually a couple laps on mario kart.” – @elise_millsssss

… others might instill feelings that are less comedic and more horrific.

gif of man opening door to another man

Congratulate yourself for surviving.

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“My roommate would cut her toe nails & put the pieces behind the couch. She’d have to gather up the clippings then physically move the couch away from the wall to do this. I had no idea until 6 mos in when I went to vacuum behind the couch & found 50+ clippings.” – @MeesterLizz


“My roommate at college used to wipe his fingerprints away after touching something just in case I was a serial murderer and he would be blamed for it. Needless to say, he wasn't my roommate for very long.” – @FallonHolic_

And even the most chill roommate can have the oddest food habits.

gif of woman eating two hotdogs at once.

How weird can it be?

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“Had a roomie who ate my pickles one by one, thinkin I wouldn't notice. Every day I'd check the fridge & count pickles. not eating them. just monitoring things. Then the roomie acts like I'm weird for counting pickles, but don't gaslight me bro. Stop eating my pickles.” – @gumgumerson

“My roommate would put black olives in a bowl, put milk on them and eat them like cereal.” – @srgraff

Some weird roommates provide a hilarious yet compelling case proving that our most instinctive, primal urges to mark territory are still deeply ingrained within us...they just came out in strange ways.

gif of caveman at airport

We haven't really evolved all that much.

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“My old roommate did not want anyone sitting in their special comfy chair after they went to bed. Every night they would remove all the cushions and bring them into their bedroom.” – @PugZLee9

gif of man wearing turban speaking to woman

The explanation isn't always uplifting.

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“My roommate at college used to make sculptures from his empty beer cans. He made Stonehenge, the White House and the Colosseum. We only realized there was a problem when he started drinking more to make sure he had enough cans to ‘finish the sculpture.’” – Optimist_Eeyore

And sometimes there's simply is no explanation for why mad people do what they do.

gif of woman looking confused

... yeah ...

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“My roommate used to eat acid with me and the last time I saw him he went to the bathroom and I sat underneath a life sized Mickey mouse stuffy and jumped up when he walked by saying ‘hi everybody!’ In a Mickey Mouse voice. He ran out of the apartment never to be seen again.” – @jakemartinjokes

Here's to roommates! Can't live with them, can't live without them. Literally.

This article originally appeared three years ago.

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Family

Daughter makes incredible art out of hundreds of her dad's text messages

"I saved all of them throughout the years."

leahgdoherty/Instagram

If there's one thing I know about dads, it's that we love a ritual. Even better if those rituals involve a catchphrase. We like saying and doing the same things over and over. We repeat stories, slogans, and words of wisdom (not to mention jokes) as often as possible, often to the chagrin of our spouses and children.

Dads are simple creatures, really. We have one or two messages we want to get across and we tend to hammer them home relentlessly, almost to the point where you're beginning to think they've lost all meaning. But, at this story proves, they never do.

Leah Doherty, a TV sports anchor in Cleveland, recently found a unique way to show her dad how much his presence in her life meant to her.

Leah and her husband, Matt, were brainstorming Christmas ideas for her father when they came up with the idea of giving him a framed father-daughter photo from their wedding — a classic present — but taking it one step further.

In a video posted to her Instagram and TikTok accounts, Leah's dad slowly and casually unwraps the rectangular package while the family sits around the couch on Christmas. At first he thinks it's just a framed picture, a nice shot of him with his daughter on her wedding day. And then he looks a little closer.

To his surprise, the photo is actually constructed of blocks of white and black text, but not just any texts. These are text messages, hundreds of them, that he had sent to his daughter over the years. Doherty explained to Good Morning America that her dad would text her every single morning throughout her college years. He'd say good morning and wish her a great day, and end every text, without fail, with his patented motivational catchphrase - "Make good decisions, I love you!"

(Such a dad move.)

Watch her dad's emotional reaction as he finally realizes what he's looking at:

Leah's video went viral, racking up millions of views and thousands of adoring comments.

"I love how this video not only shows a lovely & caring Dad, but a loving & caring husband that knows how important her & Dad mean to each other so he took the time to learn this. I’m not shocked she found a good man since she was raised by a good man," one user wrote on Instagram.

"I would give ANYTHING to have something like this from my dad. I love this for you," said another.

Others had their own stories about their fathers that closely echoed Doherty's.

My Dad has passed 8 years now. He mailed me a letter every day that I was in Nursing School. Once in a while there was 5.00 in closed for a treat. He was the most incredible Dad.

I spoke on the phone with my dad every morning when I was in college. He suddenly passed away my senior year the day my husband was going to ask him for my hand in marriage. This is precious

Overwhelmingly, though, people wanted to know how Leah and Matt created this awesome mosaic. In an Instagram reply, Leah wrote that they were working on opening up at Etsy shop to help other people create similar prints for their loved ones.


man in blue sweater kissing baby in white and blue polka dot shirt on beach during Photo by Lawrence Crayton on Unsplash

The video got me thinking about my own dad, and all the other fathers I know, and how they all do their own version of this. One dad I'm friends with shouts "Learn something!" at his kids as they board the school bus every morning. Another one yells "make good choices!" A friend's dad I knew when I was younger would always holler "be careful!" every time she left the house, so frequently that it became a chorus so predictable you could practically lip-synch along.

I prefer the classic and always-relevant "I love you" whenever I'm sending my kids on their way, because I'll be damned if the last thing I say to them, God forbid, is anything else.

These dad-isms are the kinds of things you tune out or maybe even roll your eyes at when you're young, and only learn to appreciate when you're older. Sometimes, when it's too late. Not in Doherty's case. She got the chance to tell her dad exactly how much those texts meant to her, and in turn, you can see that it meant the world to him to know he had such a lasting impact.

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