BMI for men vs women
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SeanD2407
Posts: 139 Member
I am currently as of this morning 157lb. I'm 5 foot 6, male. I'm classified as overweight. I wear size small shirts and 30 inch waist clothes (the smallest size for men you can get in some places).
Help me make sense out of this. Another "recommended 10lbs" to get well into the "normal range" where would i shop for clothes? The kid section? I know there are way taller men who are lean and in their 140lbs but if im already in the smaller sizes of clothes i feel like I'd have nowhere to shop.
Why do people have the same BMI recommendations for men and wonen. A 5"6 man who is 160 isn't the same as a 5"6 woman who is 160.. or is it?
Help me make sense out of this. Another "recommended 10lbs" to get well into the "normal range" where would i shop for clothes? The kid section? I know there are way taller men who are lean and in their 140lbs but if im already in the smaller sizes of clothes i feel like I'd have nowhere to shop.
Why do people have the same BMI recommendations for men and wonen. A 5"6 man who is 160 isn't the same as a 5"6 woman who is 160.. or is it?
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Replies
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I am currently as of this morning 157lb. I'm 5 foot 6, male. I'm classified as overweight. I wear size small shirts and 30 inch waist clothes (the smallest size for men you can get in some places).
Help me make sense out of this. Another "recommended 10lbs" to get well into the "normal range" where would i shop for clothes? The kid section? I know there are way taller men who are lean and in their 140lbs but if im already in the smaller sizes of clothes i feel like I'd have nowhere to shop.
Why do people have the same BMI recommendations for men and wonen. A 5"6 man who is 160 isn't the same as a 5"6 woman who is 160.. or is it?
BMI is a guide, not the be all and end all. If you are close to the healthy weight range, and your waist circumference, BF%, blood pressure, and other blood work metrics are healthy, you might not need to worry about it. That's something you and your doctor need to decide.
Do you carry most of your weight in your lower half? Many people can get really lean on one half of their body and still carry a lot of fat in the other half. Again, I'm not saying what that means to your personal health, but it can make things like clothing size an incomplete picture of where they are. Anyway, BMI is just one part of the picture. There are outliers, and there are also probably people just outside the range on either side who are in perfectly fine health. That's how a range works
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I am currently as of this morning 157lb. I'm 5 foot 6, male. I'm classified as overweight. I wear size small shirts and 30 inch waist clothes (the smallest size for men you can get in some places).
Help me make sense out of this. Another "recommended 10lbs" to get well into the "normal range" where would i shop for clothes? The kid section? I know there are way taller men who are lean and in their 140lbs but if im already in the smaller sizes of clothes i feel like I'd have nowhere to shop.
Why do people have the same BMI recommendations for men and wonen. A 5"6 man who is 160 isn't the same as a 5"6 woman who is 160.. or is it?
BMI is a guide, not the be all and end all. If you are close to the healthy weight range, and your waist circumference, BF%, blood pressure, and other blood work metrics are healthy, you might not need to worry about it. That's something you and your doctor need to decide.
Do you carry most of your weight in your lower half? Many people can get really lean on one half of their body and still carry a lot of fat in the other half. Again, I'm not saying what that means to your personal health, but it can make things like clothing size an incomplete picture of where they are. Anyway, BMI is just one part of the picture. There are outliers, and there are also probably people just outside the range on either side who are in perfectly fine health. That's how a range works
I agree with everything @kimny72 said. If you are happy with your size, then don't worry about losing more just because of BMI guidance. It sounds like you are already at a great weight/size for you and it is up to you to decide if you are happy and comfortable with your current weight.
However, if you want to lose more and just don't think you will be able to find clothes, then as an added point, my husband is 5'6" and 136lbs. He wears size S or XS and a 28" waist with a belt because he can't find anything smaller. It is very difficult for him to find clothes that fit but he can still usually find things at Target, TJMaxx and Marshalls with a lot of patience. The biggest issue is that most shirts are too baggy in the mid-section so he always looks for slim fit.
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Im the same height as you, and heavier, and find that for myself BMI is nonsense.
I gave up paying attention to it years ago.
I am comfortably in the "over weight" (not far from "obese") category and far healthier than when I got myself down to their idea of a "healthy" weight range.
Ive a 32" waist, relatively low body fat, visibly in decent shape and regularly work out.
I actually went down to 11.5 st as per BMI to be "healthy" when I did my initial weight loss and had people ask me if I was ill.
Its one of those things that works for some, but not others, and its not something Id ever worry about particularly.0 -
Why do people have the same BMI recommendations for men and wonen. A 5"6 man who is 160 isn't the same as a 5"6 woman who is 160.. or is it?
No they aren't the same, because it's likely the woman will have more body fat (normal body fat range for women 25-31%) and a man at the same weight will likely have more muscle (normal body fat range for men 18-24%), so although the weight might be the same the body composition could be totally different.
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At 157 pounds, you are only 2 pounds outside the normal BMI for your height. So for all intents and purposes, you are at a normal BMI.
The key point to realize is that it is a range. At 5'6, the healthy weight range is 40 pounds. So it allows for a lot of variability. I don't think by default, 160 pounds for a man and a woman are that different in terms of what is a healthy weight. Women naturally have a higher bf% than men because they have a higher amount of essential fat, so a higher bf% is considered normal and healthy for women. Whether one feels satisfied at the high end of the BMI depends on a lot of factors, for both women and men, and it's ultimately hard to say. That is why it is a range, and not a set number. There are certainly 5'6 men who are in the 130-140 range without feeling like they are too skinny. It's a lot more common where I live than in the US. For others, due to their body composition, it may not be as realistic.
Ultimately I think BMI is a much more effective measure than some people make it out to be. It is meant to be generalized, and it is true that certain very muscular individuals will fall outside the normal BMI but still have low body fat. It may not be the best choice for them. But a lot of the time, people are against BMI not because it's inaccurate, but because it tells them what they don't want to hear, which is that they are more overweight than they thought. When I was 5'11", 235, I thought it was crazy that my BMI chart said I was 57 pounds outside a normal weight. I didn't "feel" 57 pounds overweight. But now that I am only 20 pounds outside of a normal BMI, I realize that the chart was more accurate than I thought. I still feel about 20 pounds overweight, and have some weight I'd like to lose even when I get into the high end of BMI.9 -
Depending on your genetics you may naturally fall on the high end or low end of the BMI spectrum. I think men tend to be happier on the higher end in general but that is an over generalization to be sure. Wasit to height ration has been shown in literature to be a much more accurate measure of health. For men anything under .5 is considered good, so 30/66 = 0.45 which is well within the normal range of .43-.52 for men. It is likely your BF% is a bit lower than average.
To answer you other question there are definitely women who would fall into the same patterns. I am an inch shorter than you and do not look healthy much below 140-145. Now that puts me middle of the road on women's sizes where you fall on the smaller end of mens sizes, but that makes sense since 5'6" is on the shorter side for men and more average for women. So yes BMI is the same for women and men. But BMI is a range and not always an entirely accurate one.0 -
OP: If it makes you feel better, you may prefer using the Smart BMI calculator which makes certain adjustments and gives a wider range than does the standard BMI calculator.
You can find it here: https://smartbmicalculator.com/4 -
I would agree with you that BMI may not be relevant for you given your waist size but with a caveat.
Measure and confirm that your waist and waist to high ratios really are what you think they are (and "normal", thus indicating that you might be able to ignore the slightly high BMI number)
Don't fall for the trap a lot of men with excess belly fat fall into by having their waist 30 pants cinch under their waist with the belly overhanging... in fact visceral fat would be a high risk factor and a prime indicator to lose weight.
Again I obviously have no way of knowing whether you are shredded or have a manly pot belly... not looking at a picture, right? Just cautioning that I've heard and seen people with an obvious belly taking about wearing the same size pants they always did....9 -
I'm a woman 5'2 136lbs which puts me at 24.9 BMI (.1 from overweight). My bodyfat % is just around 20%. The new PA at my doctor's office checked the BMI chart...made a face and said, "you aren't even close to overweight." There are definitely outliers (I happen to be one due to training style).
I would imagine that a man my size would not be "overweight" either...b/c I fall into the "normal" bf% for men.
I think maybe you should consider having your bodyfat % checked. That might give you additional information.
ETA: clothes shopping is a chore for me too. I fit into 12 year old boys tops and only womens' tank tops (b/c my back and arms will burst the seams on women's tops). Pants aren't much easier.1 -
I am currently as of this morning 157lb. I'm 5 foot 6, male. I'm classified as overweight. I wear size small shirts and 30 inch waist clothes (the smallest size for men you can get in some places).
Help me make sense out of this. Another "recommended 10lbs" to get well into the "normal range" where would i shop for clothes? The kid section? I know there are way taller men who are lean and in their 140lbs but if im already in the smaller sizes of clothes i feel like I'd have nowhere to shop.
Why do people have the same BMI recommendations for men and wonen. A 5"6 man who is 160 isn't the same as a 5"6 woman who is 160.. or is it?
It's your waist measurement, not you pants size. Google how to measure your waist size and I will bet it's greater than 30 inches.2 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »I am currently as of this morning 157lb. I'm 5 foot 6, male. I'm classified as overweight. I wear size small shirts and 30 inch waist clothes (the smallest size for men you can get in some places).
Help me make sense out of this. Another "recommended 10lbs" to get well into the "normal range" where would i shop for clothes? The kid section? I know there are way taller men who are lean and in their 140lbs but if im already in the smaller sizes of clothes i feel like I'd have nowhere to shop.
Why do people have the same BMI recommendations for men and wonen. A 5"6 man who is 160 isn't the same as a 5"6 woman who is 160.. or is it?
It's your waist measurement, not you pants size. Google how to measure your waist size and I will bet it's greater than 30 inches.
Its barely over 31. Not much of a difference.0 -
I would agree with you that BMI may not be relevant for you given your waist size but with a caveat.
Measure and confirm that your waist and waist to high ratios really are what you think they are (and "normal", thus indicating that you might be able to ignore the slightly high BMI number)
Don't fall for the trap a lot of men with excess belly fat fall into by having their waist 30 pants cinch under their waist with the belly overhanging... in fact visceral fat would be a high risk factor and a prime indicator to lose weight.
Again I obviously have no way of knowing whether you are shredded or have a manly pot belly... not looking at a picture, right? Just cautioning that I've heard and seen people with an obvious belly taking about wearing the same size pants they always did....
Measured my waist and it was just at if not a centimeter over the 31. Which with a 30 waist size makes sense.1 -
If one considers the whole population of people with your waist measurements it sounds as if that population as a whole would not exhibit increased health risk. So it appears likely that choosing to ignore your slightly high BMI number is not without support.
Here is an interesting article on BodyFat percentage: https://www.kingofthegym.com/body-fat-percentage/
Here are a couple of visual image based sites that show examples of what people look like at various levels of body fat:
https://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
https://www.ruled.me/visually-estimate-body-fat-percentage/
Depending on your age group, as a male, you may prefer to be under 20%, 22%, or 25% body fat.0
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