BMI confusion

jjay23

Ok so I am getting increasingly confused with this BMI thing. I am in the overweight category which is fine but I have a friend who has the same hip and waist measurement as me and is the same height but is just in the healthy weight bracket. One difference, she has a very small chest and I have a rather large chest. so what do I do? inevitably my goal is to be within a healthy BMI with the weight loss I am going for but how much stock do I put on my BMI? VERY CONFUSED INDEED

Kurrsteee

I wouldn't put too much stock in it. Like, I used to be a size 8-10 (UK) and I was always supposedly overweight, because I have a large chest. Obviously, if it says you're obese then you can't blow it off because of your chest size. Since this isn't the case, I'd sort of aim for mid-range BMI at the lowest (which is what I'm doing) since then you're not going to be in danger of being unhealthy from being underweight (proportionally).

EDollah

BMI is useless at the individual level. From what I understand, it was created in the mid 1800s as a means of assessing health at a population level.

Body Fat Percentage is far more meaningful.

jjay23

ok brilliant, i will keep doing what i am doing and measure etc as well, its when I go to the gp and they do the whole your BMI says this and then the nurse says different.

xampx

I have a huge chest, and my goal weight will leave me at the top of the overweight level. Its a joke that GPs take BMI seriously!

(Not that my chest size has anything to do with my BMI - I am currently just too fat)

jjay23

I have a huge chest, and my goal weight will leave me at the top of the overweight level. Its a joke that GPs take BMI seriously!

(Not that my chest size has anything to do with my BMI - I am currently just too fat)

me too! its ridiculous, I am highly aware i have quite a few lbs to shift but please mr huffing and puffing overweight GP please use some common sense! good luck with your goal, loads lost so far!!!