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BMI CONTROVERSY‼️🤬

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  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    aokoye wrote: »
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    wmd1979 wrote: »
    Personally, I find that BMI is generally a good guideline for the majority of people, but I did just have a case yesterday where I was affected by my BMI. I scheduled an upcoming shoulder surgery for mid January, and when doing so, I was forced to also schedule a pre-op physical based solely on the fact that my BMI puts me slightly into the overweight range. If I was in the normal range I would not have had to pass a physical. I am 6'2" 197 lbs and my bodyfat % is sub 10%. I was aware that I am 3-4 lbs into the overweight category but it never bothered me until yesterday when my surgeons office insisted I schedule a physical based only on my BMI. I don't have a problem with BMI being used as a guideline for people, but I think that strictly enforcing these guidelines just like what happened to me yesterday is ridiculous. Doctors offices, and insurance companies do need to recognize that there will be outliers and need to have secondary measures in place in those cases(height to waist ratio or whatever). With that being said, I believe that most people who think they are outliers actually are not, and sometimes people need to be honest with themselves and realize that they are larger than they should be.

    I think BMI is far more accurate for women. I have rarely ever seen a women who was "overweight" yet still looked thin, but have seen plenty of muscular men who shouldn't be deemed overweight.

    Did you mean "thin" or something more like "healthy and fit"? I wouldn't describe the muscular men I knew in the USAF who were above BMI yet passed the tape or dunk tests as "thin" - why does "thin" need to be the ideal for women?

    I mean healthy and fit. For me thin means healthy and fit and in the normal BMI range. I see anyone in the healthy BMI range as thin, healthy and fit.

    I don't mean "skinny" when I say thin, I mean fit and healthy looking, as in not overweight or fat. Maybe I use thin in a different way than others do. I wouldn't call someone underweight thin, I would say "skinny/unhealthy". Didn't mean to say anything saying women should be skinny I didn't mean to imply that!

    I would argue that fit is very different than being in the normal BMI range. Healthy? Well my BMI is 27.8 and I'm pretty sure all of my medical doctors would deem me physically healthy if we look at this holistically. I'm also, fit if we're talking about cardiovascular fitness. I personally know number of people who don't fall into the normal BMI (and not because they are especially muscular) range but are definitely fit.

    This point is of course totally moot if, by your definition, someone can't be thin if they aren't healthy, fit, and in the normal BMI range - that is to say, all three of those things have to be true. Then again I also know people who are in the normal BMI range and are not at all healthy or fit (and the people I'm thinking of would agree with me).

    TL:DR - thin appears to be a social construct.

    Of course there are exceptions etc I was just saying in general I imagine thin as someone who is in healthy BMI range and doesn’t look overweight. And I meant healthy as in healthy BMI. If you wanted me to go into depth for every single term that’s ridiculous and a waste of time and is besides the point I was trying to make.

    Geez you people are reading way too much into words. Everyone seems to have a different interpretation and view on the differences so it doesn’t really matter. I never said you can’t be one of the three or all three or anything I was just trying to explain the way I see things, not make an all inclusive definitive definition for every single term. And I’m not even saying my interpretation is correct, I was just trying to explain what it is to explain that I did not mean to say the ideal women should be at the low end of the BMI.

    My point was to say most women at an overweight BMI look overweight more so than men at the same overweight BMI.

    I think the problem is that it doesn't seem especially uncommon for people to have a very all or nothing sort of attitude with regards to what things like this. In terms of my fitness and my BMI I can't imagine that I'm really an exception, but I have no data to back that up (and am not especially sure where to go about finding data that would support or refute it). In terms of the specific person I was thinking of who is thin and not fit - she's an outlier in that she's not healthy, but I doubt that she is with regards to the idea of sick people being thin (hence the part of meaning of the phrase "looks sickly").

    I'm not sure how I'm reading too much into what you're saying. I'm not asking you to have some in depth description for terms like fit, healthy, and thin. I'm was explaining why I disagreed and gave examples.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Adding to the comment above: Also: At least on me, you're not going to see the difference between BMI 24 (with 'winter fluff') versus a few points lower with a T-shirt on - but it is certainly visible in a swimsuit/strapless gown/crop shirt.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,978 Member
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    KrazyKrissyy wrote: »
    bisonpitcher wrote: »
    I personally think body fat percentage is a better metric for overall health and fitness. A male who is muscular may be very fit but "overweight" at 10% body fat (or a woman at 18%). Conversely, some one with less muscle may be normal BMI, but have an abundance of body fat. That's why I have a body fat goal, more so than a goal weight.

    I agree. They don't take muscle into consideration. There's also bowel diseases, tumors, excessive water retention, and other possibilities that can substantially make a large error in the individual's real weight. I've had 20+ pound blockages that had to be medically removed. Made a large difference in BMI but not in my real body mass.

    Things like muscle mass, gender, etc. are indeed taken into consideration. That's why it's a range. More muscle? Higher end of the range. So much muscle that you're out of range but still have a healthy low body fat percentage? That's possible but unusual. Someone in such good condition is also going to be unconcerned with their BMI because they got there on purpose.


    Yes absolutely.

    and has has been pointed out in other threads, even people with very high muscle mass are usually not far out of standard range - ie they might be 28 or so but they are not 40

    and that happens with all ranges- the range of standard heights for men might go up to 6 ft 6 in - but that doesnt mean nobody is 6 ft 7.

    It does mean nobody is 8 ft.
  • WakkoW
    WakkoW Posts: 567 Member
    born_of_fire74 wrote: »
    Why does the fit looking person with the normal BMI keep posting photos of herself as evidence that BMI is not a good metric? Your photos are evidence that BMI is a good metric.

    (They are posted across two BMI debate threads and I don’t understand the point she is trying to make in either)

    Yeah. It is silly. My BMI is 24 also. I work darn hard in the gym. That doesn't make BMI unrealistic or controversial. If I stopped working out, but remained at a 24 BMI, it would be obvious. BMI is just a metric. My guess is the person posting is not entirely who they say they are and are just bored/looking to stir up controversy.

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