BMI, where are you at ?? yikes!!!
- Thread starter mandy0206
- Start date
sugar_lipswales
Silver Member
Not a lot of people have much faith in the BMI system anymore, it classes Olympic Athletes as obese because they have a lot of weight as muscle! I think it's much better not to obssess about numbers but look at how your body is shaped and what clothes you fit into x
Dreamer
Gold Member
Yes, but the BMI chart says it's not to be used for athletes at all or for children. For adults it works as a good parameter which correlates with health risks. Incidentally athletes have their own set of risks and have a lower lifespan than the general population. The trick is to use BMI along with other measurements, mainly waist circumference (and if you're keen enough, hip measurement to compare it to). The waist measurement is a good measure of how much fat you are holding in the abdomen region, which is a huge risk factor. The waist:hip ratio is a great measure (0.7 is good for a woman, 0.9 for a man).
Another point of note is that for Asian populations the health risks start at a lower BMI, so a South Asian person like myself is technically obese at BMI 25+, and in other Asian populations the obesity range starts between BMI 25 and 30. There are WHO recommendation papers if anyone's interested.
Studies have also shown that those in the "overweight" category tend to live longer than those in the other categories.
It's a very outdated system... there are plenty of better ways to measure health than arbritatry numbers that make sweeping generalisations about a persons health without even seeing that person. Much of this obsession with OMG OBESITY!111!! isn't about health, if it was it would be the health of individuals being measured.
It's a very outdated system... there are plenty of better ways to measure health than arbritatry numbers that make sweeping generalisations about a persons health without even seeing that person. Much of this obsession with OMG OBESITY!111!! isn't about health, if it was it would be the health of individuals being measured.
Konvictz
Full Member
bmi is pretty useless, people say its a 'guide' but my eyes can do a better job than that guide.
bmi is restricted to only considering height and weight. this boggles my mind how people can rely on that so much, because these two factors are very un specific. body weight is made up of many different things, fat is only one of those things, other things include water, muscle, blood, bones etc.
we are all here to get thinner, or for the lucky few, stay thinner. but the point is that it is about our physical size. all of us on this forum are concerned about size and that is why we are here. the reason we are not in the shape we want to be in is because of fat storage in our body, and this is being stored in stomach, bums, cheeks, legs, arms etc.
its not weight we should be concerned about, its fat. and believe me there is a very distinct difference between weight and fat.
someone can be 13 stone at 5 foot 6, and they will be classed as overweight by the bmi system, im sure we all agree thats true. however, the person can be 13 stone of muscle with a flat belly and perfect figure, or someone can be 13 stone with alot of fat in their body. that is why bmi is wrong, and its bad, its incorrect, its false.
that is why body fat percentage will probably replace bmi very soon, because it gives a true picture of how fat a person truly is, bmi does not tell you how fat someone is.
many people on this very forum had said at times they had not lost any weight in the scales, but they have gotten thinner.
bmi is restricted to only considering height and weight. this boggles my mind how people can rely on that so much, because these two factors are very un specific. body weight is made up of many different things, fat is only one of those things, other things include water, muscle, blood, bones etc.
we are all here to get thinner, or for the lucky few, stay thinner. but the point is that it is about our physical size. all of us on this forum are concerned about size and that is why we are here. the reason we are not in the shape we want to be in is because of fat storage in our body, and this is being stored in stomach, bums, cheeks, legs, arms etc.
its not weight we should be concerned about, its fat. and believe me there is a very distinct difference between weight and fat.
someone can be 13 stone at 5 foot 6, and they will be classed as overweight by the bmi system, im sure we all agree thats true. however, the person can be 13 stone of muscle with a flat belly and perfect figure, or someone can be 13 stone with alot of fat in their body. that is why bmi is wrong, and its bad, its incorrect, its false.
that is why body fat percentage will probably replace bmi very soon, because it gives a true picture of how fat a person truly is, bmi does not tell you how fat someone is.
many people on this very forum had said at times they had not lost any weight in the scales, but they have gotten thinner.
hannata
I can haz cake?
I'm off the scale lol I rely on BMI as a general ballpark figure. The top end of the healthy bmi is my goal for now and I'm happy with that. See how we go as it goes down. And its nice to see the number drop down as the weight does, and setting targets of fitting into each category
No need to fret about exact numbers... the "healthy" range is more than broad enough spectrum to fit in the majority of average jos.
I rely on BMI as a general ballpark figure. The top end of the healthy bmi is my goal for now and I'm happy with that. See how we go as it goes down. And its nice to see the number drop down as the weight does, and setting targets of fitting into each category No need to fret about exact numbers... the "healthy" range is more than broad enough spectrum to fit in the majority of average jos.
Littlered81
Full Member
I'm with you Hanna, I set my goal weight as being the top of the healthy weight range. It would be nice to go for a medical and not be told "you're weight puts you in the obese range".
Needless to say my current BMI is in the obese range. I like to set myself lots of mini goals on the way to my main goal, and one of the goals is getting back in to the overweight section.
Needless to say my current BMI is in the obese range. I like to set myself lots of mini goals on the way to my main goal, and one of the goals is getting back in to the overweight section.
hannata
I can haz cake?
Yeah i like the categories... It'll be nice to say YEAH I'M HEALTHY and know that I am... rather than trying to convince myself cause I will still think i'm huge
haha I love it
I'll join you when I get into the healthy range 
