Ideal Weight vs. BMI

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  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    rosebette wrote: »
    Isn't the "apple" shape unhealthier than the "pear" shape, though? If you carry more weight below the waist, which many women do, rather than around your internal organs, aren't you less at risk for heart attack, etc.? Isn't this the reason why men with a "beer belly" are more at risk than a woman who might be overweight but more of a pear or hourglass?

    Yes, but how many women do you know who say, "My hips are as big as a boat, but my waist is small, so I'm fine with my weight?" Ideal weight and max healthy weight are not the same thing.
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    That thing about the waist being half the height is laughable. BMI gives most people something to shoot for. Once you get close, evaluate were you want to be.

    Actually if you took this comment and reversed it you would be closer to current scientific thinking about BMI / waist as a measure of health risk factors..eg BMI is laughable on an individual level but waist measurement is more indicative of cardio-vascular risk factors

    As far as the population measure of BMI goes there is no ideal weight, just a range where on a statistical measure health risks are lower than if you were outside it ...discounting the outliers, which are around 25% of the population based on a study that was posted on site a while ago (can't find it now, just remember the outtake)

    But we aren't talking about cardiovascular risk factors. I have seen more people whose ideal weight fell within the normal BMI range than I have seen people who were at their ideal weight when their waist was less than half their height. Nether will give you and ideal weight, but having a range of values is better than having a fixed number that is roughly the high end of normal BMI, but usually higher.

    We are talking about health not aesthetics, as per the Original post

    As always, I have no idea what you are talking about :wink:

    The OP also said she looked good at a certain weight, so clearly she us concerned about both.

    OP, ideal weight is hard to define and is going to be different for every one. Being 10 lbs lighter isn't going to guarantee that you are healthier, so while it might sound like a real statistic, it seems more like a statement told yo fat people by their doctor to encourage them to lose weight.

    And BMI is an overall guide for a population with a wide range of "healthy". At This piint, You'd likely di better forgetting about the scale and go by body fat percentage and what you like in the mirror. And if you're concerned about health, go have a physical and ask for your doctor's opinion.

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