Actually, there is a use for the BMI in the doctor's office. It should function as an initial observation indicating a need for further examination as part of a preventative strategy and/or possible avenues of exploration for the source of signs & symptoms if someone is already experiencing health problems. However, it seems to be treated as an if-then statement (if patient BMI exceeds $foo, then patient needs to lose weight; if patient BMI is less than $bar, then patient needs to gain weight) rather than a single clinical manifestation that is meaningless without context. But if a doctor is unlikely to realize it is merely an indicator that further examination is necessary, how the hell can a layman be expect to figure that out?

I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is. Replacing the BMI with some other measurement won't address it.