Is BMI right for everyone?

ashleygroizard

Hi I got to a healthy bmi but discovered I had an eating disorder. I went into recovery and due to getting obsessed with exercise and only eating 500-1000 calories a day I was made to eat more and exercise less. I honestly thought I’d got the weight loss right and reached 72kgs. Due to recovery I was made to eat every 2-3 hours which made me so hungry and after eating so few calories I went from a healthy bmi to in the start of the obese bmi. I was devastated not to mention cranky and upset because I tried to quit a few times but my eating disorder psychologist wouldn’t let me. I just today come into the overweight category at 91.6kgs. Finally after going up to 93kgs and being start of obese bmi. I feel so ashamed of myself but my eating disorder thoughts are gone which is a good thing. So now my bmi is 29 so I’m overweight and I have a large body frame and I am very tall and have a bit of muscle for a girl with some fat and lose skin from past rapid weight loss. Does everyone believe in the bmi for everyone including all body frames and nationalities? I feel very uncomfortable being classed as overweight it’s embarrassing and I feel I failed again. I think the bmi is right but I’d like to here what other people think. Good luck to everyone on there journey. 💖🍀🌺🍀💖

L1zardQueen

Read this. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/index.html

from the above link

How is BMI used?
BMI can be a screening tool, but it does not diagnose the body fatness or health of an individual. To determine if BMI is a health risk, a healthcare provider performs further assessments. Such assessments include skinfold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet, physical activity, and family history10.

7rainbow

Hi there,
Don't be too hard on yourself, as someone who has recovered from an eating disorder as well you should be proud of where you are today! To be honest I'm not a BMI expert, I still go to my psychiatrist at the eating disorder clinic and she used BMI to see if I was healthy, so I assume that in most cases it is probably right. I think it's just important that if you are trying to lose weight you do it slowly and in a healthy way. That's what I'm trying to do myself now. Make sure you are still eating enough calories as MFP reccomeds, but if you are in a deficit you should still slowly lose weight. Talk to your doctor to see what they recommend, they will know best. Sending hugs!

AnnPT77

BMI was not designed to determine individual's ideal weight. It was designed to assess populations (i.e., look at statistics about large groups of people and generalize about how many are *probably* underweight, overweight, etc.).

At the "one person" level it can also be used as a screener. For example, if an employer is doing health-fair type screenings for employees, the company they hire might calculate the BMI for each person, as a quick way to decide who it's most important to be looked at more closely to assess whether their body fat levels might be a health risk.

Some entities (insurance companies, lately) are using it in very inappropriate ways, for which is was not designed.

In my understanding, statistics from research studies suggest that a large fraction of people (I think it's around 80%, maybe more) can find *A* healthy weight somewhere in the the normal BMI range. That doesn't mean their "ideal weight", necessarily: Each of us has a range of weight in which our health outcomes are likely to be reasonable.

For specifics, people should talk to their doctor, especially people like you, who are quite a bit taller than average, have more muscle than average, have loose skin from past weight loss, have wide bone spacing (like wide hip, shoulders), or other things that make them more likely to be "non-average" in a statistical sense, so somewhat more likely as an individual to have a healthy weight outside the normal BMI range. Talking with a personal doctor about a good, healthy range of weight for an individual is *doubly* important for someone with a history of ED or body dysmorphia (inaccurate body self-image).

There's a long thread about BMI and whether it's useful or not, why and how, over in the Debate section. I will link it later in this post but please be conscious that it IN THE DEBATE SECTION. That section is not really for personal advice, it's where people argue about controversial topics, and it's a little more "gloves off" and contentious compared to parts of the Community forums that are advice/support focused. The rules are different there. However, the thread will give you information about pros/cons of BMI andTal its uses:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10816450/is-bmi-an-accurate-way-to-know-how-much-i-should-weigh/p1


Now, specific personal advice to you, in my "concerned old internet auntie who wants you to be happy and successful" mode:

Talk with your doctor or other treatment team member about what would be a reasonable, healthy range of bodyweights for you.

Please do not interpret where you fall on the BMI scale as some kind of indicator of your success or worth as a human being - please, please! It was never intended to be that. It isn't that. (Think about it: Some elite athletes are so muscular that they fall in the overweight range, even though they have very low body fat. Should they feel bad about being "overweight"? Heck, many long-term regular gym weight-training folks can fall in the overweight BMI range, in peak health.) It's just a very rough screening measure, not a personal judgement.

No one should feel lesser or a failure because of their BMI number. If someone figures it out, and they think it's possible that they *might* have too much or too little body fat for best health, they should talk with their personal doctor about whether they should gain or lose weight to improve chances of continuing good health. For an individual, that's the only meaning or value it has.

P.S. Someone who is concerned that they may have too much or too little body fat for best health odds might also try other self-screening measures like waist/height ratio, or an online body fat estimator, before seeing the doctor. Personally, I think that someone with an ED history would be sensible to get the doctor's or treatment team's opinions earlier rather than later.

Wishing you health and happiness!

goal06082021

BMI is not a useful metric for individual health, because it doesn't account for things like body-fat percentage and functionality.

To illustrate with an extreme example, Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime (20 years old, 6'3", 235lb) would be classified as borderline-obese if all we're looking at is his height and weight at the time that he won Mr. Universe in 1967. These are obviously not obese people, but putting young Arnold's stats in a BMI calculator, we get a BMI of 29.4. Class I obesity is a BMI above 30.

Theoldguy1

goal06082021 wrote: »

BMI is not a useful metric for individual health, because it doesn't account for things like body-fat percentage and functionality.

To illustrate with an extreme example, Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime (20 years old, 6'3", 235lb) would be classified as borderline-obese if all we're looking at is his height and weight at the time that he won Mr. Universe in 1967. These are obviously not obese people, but putting young Arnold's stats in a BMI calculator, we get a BMI of 29.4. Class I obesity is a BMI above 30.

There is a wide range of weight that is normal BMI at any given height. For the vast majority this accounts for the body fat % and functionality you mention.

You are correct, Arnold is an extreme example. You don't see many people around like him do you? BMI is a reasonable metric for most.

SnifterPug

BMI is not the be-all and end-all but the range is large so you do have to be something of an outlier (such as Arnie, as mentioned above) for it not to be a useful guide of the range you want to be in, or at least very close to.

paperpudding

SnifterPug wrote: »

BMI is not the be-all and end-all but the range is large so you do have to be something of an outlier (such as Arnie, as mentioned above) for it not to be a useful guide of the range you want to be in, or at least very close to.

Yes I agree with this.

For the vast majority of people, a healthy weight will be within or slightly out of BMI range.

In fact the Arnie example really validates that - even someone obviously FAR more muscular than the norm still only had a BMI of 29, ie 4 points above upper limit of 25.

Most people, your BMI says you are overweight: you are in fact overweight.

lgfrie

I have relatives who have spent more time and energy raging about BMI than trying to diet.

I, for one, really really like BMI as a dieting metric. I've plummeted through two 5-levels on my journey, first squeezing under BMI=40 and then 35, and hopefully in a few months I'll be under 30. Those levels take much longer to achieve than pounds, but are far more rewarding, and man oh man do doctors like when you pass through a 5-level on the BMI chart on the way down.

Speaking of doctors, my doctor's office visit summary top page has name, ss #, address, and then the following information: blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and BMI. Everything else comes on the following pages. BMI is a key metric docs and insurance companies use to get a snapshot of a patient's risk profile for various potential problems and diseases, because the correlation of BMI with certain diseases like diabetes is statistically very strong. Dieters are free to rage at BMI but it ain't going anywhere.

PAV8888

The question you're asking, the way you're asking it, is not necessarily what we should be responding to.

Good health is a continuum and what constitutes good health for each one of us is not the same.

Is being at a normal BMI AND in the clutches of an eating disorder more HEALTHY for YOU than being at an overweight BMI AND in REMISSION from an eating disorder? OR is being at an overweight BMI and in remission from an eating disorder actually a healthier state for you? Which of the two conditions carries a higher health risk for you as an individual?

I don't know the answer to this and only an engaged and caring doctor who considers your full history would be able to render a professional opinion.

All I know is that after some considerable effort you have succeeded in getting a handle on your eating disorder. This is a victory worthy of self congratulation and joy!

I seem to vaguely recall some posts of yours from a while back. They were very consistent with the diagnosis you describe in your OP.

I am not sure that feelings of embarrassment and failure are good starting points and good justification for caloric restriction in this context.

Chieflrg

BMI is just a screening tool that has come and gone a few times over history. The ability to calculate quickly is one of the pros.

If high then the doctor goes to the next tool and repeats to help determine if action or advice is needed.

Another tool that seems to be more efficient is waist circumference if measured correctly. It works well will height though the number is not universal for some people such as those of Asian descent which Will be lower guidelunes.

john_not_typical

My PCP said BMI is not a hard rule. I had an overweight BMI but he said I was a healthy weight based on my muscle mass. Talk to your doctor so you can understand what a healthy weight for you should be.