Does everyone still use the bmi scale??

Jeckia

I'm just wondering if the bmi scale is still a thing. Yes I know it exists, however if I went with it. I'm not even 5'2" and I'd look sickly if I was the exact weight they say i should be.

I went to a wellness place and the doctor there told me it's not all about bmi supposedly anymore, but about the shape of your body, your health history and family history.

I'm just wondering what people use now a days to figure out what a "healthy" body is supposed to look like.

Like I said I know everyone is different, but just wondering what people use as a guideline.

AnvilHead

What "exact weight" are you referring to? BMI is a range. For a 5'2" person, that range (from BMI 18.5 to 24.9) is 101-136 pounds.

BMI is a useful guideline for most people, but it was originally intended to be used to compare populations, not individuals. Even so, for the vast majority of people, chances are that if you're at an appropriate weight/bodyfat percentage, you'll also be somewhere near a "normal weight" BMI.

[ETA:] IMO, bodyfat percentage is a better indicator of a "healthy" weight. If one is reasonably lean, chances are good that they're at a healthy weight. That helps weed out the outliers on either end of the BMI scale.

seska422

Doctors use it in conjunction with other health markers such as waist circumference. Insurance companies use it because it's easy to quantify.

BMI "normal" isn't an exact weight. It is a pretty wide weight range and the studies that I've seen say that it's generally a poor marker for muscular men because it says they are overfat when they might not be and a poor marker for shorter women because it says they aren't overfat when they might be. BMI was meant to give information about populations of people, rather than individuals, and it does a decent job of giving an overview for most people.

Did your "wellness place" have medical doctors?

kommodevaran

BMI isn't an exact weight, it's a range, and I'll wager you'll be fine at the higher end of normal weight.

Be wary of doctors at wellness places. If someone can earn something by persuading you of something, they will, and some things are easier to persuade people into, because it's what they want to hear in the first place.

Jeckia

Gotcha!

Thanks everyone. The wellness place I went to the so called "doctor" which is part of my regular primary care place. They call her a functional medicine doctor.

I'm not on any type of medication, however she did try to sell me on this type of shake mix stuff they have. Insurance doesnt over it and it cost way more than what herbalife or beachbody shakes would cost.

malibu927

BMI is a range, as others have said, and it works for a general population. There will be outliers who have more muscle mass but are considered healthy. However, for most, BMI is one of several things that may be used to gauge your health and wellbeing.

erickirb

Jeckia wrote: »

Gotcha!

Thanks everyone. The wellness place I went to the so called "doctor" which is part of my regular primary care place. They call her a functional medicine doctor.

I'm not on any type of medication, however she did try to sell me on this type of shake mix stuff they have. Insurance doesnt over it and it cost way more than what herbalife or beachbody shakes would cost.

Yikes, I wouldn't want to go back. even BB and HL are overpriced for what you get!

motivatedmartha

^^^^ Exactly!
No-one supposedly medical should be trying to sell you anything other than a diet consisting of a wide range of proper food with a sensible calorie deficit (provided you are overweight). You do not have to drink your meals to lose weight and be healthy - it's what we have teeth for And shakes, where useful, shouldn't cost the earth.

cwolfman13

Jeckia wrote: »

I'm just wondering if the bmi scale is still a thing. Yes I know it exists, however if I went with it. I'm not even 5'2" and I'd look sickly if I was the exact weight they say i should be.

I went to a wellness place and the doctor there told me it's not all about bmi supposedly anymore, but about the shape of your body, your health history and family history.

I'm just wondering what people use now a days to figure out what a "healthy" body is supposed to look like.

Like I said I know everyone is different, but just wondering what people use as a guideline.

BMI is a range, not an exact number. It is a range to accommodate various frames, muscle mass, etc. It works fine as a general indicator for the vast majority of people, but should also be used in conjunction with BF%.

mulecanter

I was skeptical of BMI until I got to the healthy range, turns out it was right.

AnvilHead

mulecanter wrote: »

I was skeptical of BMI until I got to the healthy range, turns out it was right.

Me too. I thought I was an outlier. Turns out I was still just too fat.

Diatonic12

AnvilHead wrote: »

mulecanter wrote: »

I was skeptical of BMI until I got to the healthy range, turns out it was right.

Me too. I thought I was an outlier.

I lurve the way your mind thinks. Perfect mix of common sense and brains.

apullum

Jeckia wrote: »

I'm not on any type of medication, however she did try to sell me on this type of shake mix stuff they have. Insurance doesnt over it and it cost way more than what herbalife or beachbody shakes would cost.

That’s quite a red flag. A doctor shouldn’t be trying to sell you something, and you don’t need any special shakes at all in order to lose weight. I wouldn’t go back there.

AnvilHead

apullum wrote: »

Jeckia wrote: »

I'm not on any type of medication, however she did try to sell me on this type of shake mix stuff they have. Insurance doesnt over it and it cost way more than what herbalife or beachbody shakes would cost.

That’s quite a red flag. A doctor shouldn’t be trying to sell you something, and you don’t need any special shakes at all in order to lose weight. I wouldn’t go back there.

"Functional medicine" is the first clue. That's almost always a euphemism for "woo peddling quack".

cwolfman13

Also, BMI is only really an indicator of risk in populations...it's not necessarily an indicator of health. I know lots of people who are at a healthy weight, but they aren't healthy in the least. And yes, heredity plays a big factor as well.

BMI is only one of many measures of potential health.

zyxst

All the GPs I've had use BMI to decide if I'm "healthy". Lab tests and blood work are part of it, but going over 25 BMI gets the "lose weight" (aka you're not healthy) speech.

kshama2001

Jeckia wrote: »

Gotcha!

Thanks everyone. The wellness place I went to the so called "doctor" which is part of my regular primary care place. They call her a functional medicine doctor.

I'm not on any type of medication, however she did try to sell me on this type of shake mix stuff they have. Insurance doesnt over it and it cost way more than what herbalife or beachbody shakes would cost.

As others have said, herbalife and beachbody shakes are already overpriced.

But I still want to know if she gave you a number or a range.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Sure, sort of. I am currently on the high end of the healthy range. I probably would look sick on the low end, but that's why there's a range.

serindipte

Something to consider regarding the BMI scale:

[excerpt]
Rather, the studies generally suggest that people with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 -- which is considered overweight but not obese -- have a survival advantage over people with higher or lower BMIs.

[excerpt]
In the newly published study, researchers used data from an ongoing Canadian national health survey to follow more than 11,000 adults from the mid-1990s to 2007.

Compared to people who fell into the normal-weight category:

Those classified as underweight were 73% more likely to die.
Those classified as extremely obese with BMI of 35 or greater were 36% more likely to die.
Those classified as obese with BMI 30-34.9 had about the same risk of death.
Those classified as overweight with BMI 25-29.9 were 17% less likely to die.

Source: https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20090625/study-overweight-people-live-longer#1

CSARdiver

Jeckia wrote: »

Gotcha!

Thanks everyone. The wellness place I went to the so called "doctor" which is part of my regular primary care place. They call her a functional medicine doctor.

I'm not on any type of medication, however she did try to sell me on this type of shake mix stuff they have. Insurance doesnt over it and it cost way more than what herbalife or beachbody shakes would cost.

Functional medicine is a scam...there's the problem.

BMI is a population distribution, nothing more. It can be used as a benchmark, but certainly does not apply to everyone. It was never intended to.

scoii

I'm an outlier (on the overweight end) and struggle to get in the normal range unless I'm very lean and low on muscle mass and I don't lift or exercise regularly.

Im short for a man and even my ridiculously skinny man legs don't seem to be able to counteract a large chest/rib cage.

Unfortunately the square in the equation makes it less useful a guide for us shorter folk.