Morbidly obese, Really??

2»

Replies

  • Milica986
    Milica986 Posts: 70 Member
    Maybe "the doctor" is actually a lawyer with a fake doctor diploma :bigsmile:
    If anybody wants, I can calculate your BMI for free. I am that nice.
    Doctors should know to do more than that I suppose!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    We were just discussing this at work. We have a health screening at work on the 30th. One person passed the BMI part of it last year everyone else was considered overweight or obese. It is clearly not an accurate measurement.

    The insurance companies use this as a way to increase our co-pays and premiums.
    The vast majority of people do not have the kind of muscle the man in the OP has, or that ACG has.

    Looking around my office, I don't see very many of us who would pass a BMI test and they are not muscular. They are fat. It's the state of the country these days.

    BMI falls off when you take someone who is larger framed and has significantly more muscle than average. Otherwise, it's a pretty good scale. The BMI scale gives a good 40-pound range so it's not like it's trying to fit every person of a certain height into a very narrow definition of healthy. I can weight from 103-141 and be in a healthy BMI zone. For me, 141 is still pretty fat,though I've seen others my height at around that weight who look great.

    I was 102 when I was pregnant -- right up to my third trimester -- and looked and was perfectly healthy, even with terrible morning sickness. So to be 103-110 without being pregnant I think is pretty reasonable for me and others with my height and frame.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    If anybody wants, I can calculate your BMI for free. I am that nice.
    Or they can do a google search and calculate it themselves for free ...
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    The doctor probably calculated his BMI, which takes in account your age, gender, height, and weight. It does not calculate how much muscle you have. The only way you can lower your BMI is by losing weight. I have the same problem as I'm currently at a school that I have to pass a BMI test, but because I have muscle I fail it by a couple points. It's the problem of the BMI and relying on the BMI.
    BMI does not take age or gender into account. It's strictly height and weight. It's meant for broad population classification, and was never intended to be a measurement used for individuals. It will never be accurate for that, and the man who created it even said as much.
  • Milica986
    Milica986 Posts: 70 Member
    If anybody wants, I can calculate your BMI for free. I am that nice.
    Or they can do a google search and calculate it themselves for free ...

    Sure! I was joking :smile:
  • Khawel06
    Khawel06 Posts: 4 Member
    The doctors look only at height and weight, and all their calculation are based on the BMI. The BMI is flawed because it doesn't account for age, gender or and the amount of muscles.
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    I don't know about morbidly obese, but it looks to me like he lacks focus. He should get that checked out or he won't accomplish his goals.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    If anybody wants, I can calculate your BMI for free. I am that nice.
    Or they can do a google search and calculate it themselves for free ...

    Sure! I was joking :smile:
    Sorry. I thought you might be. I'm slow on a good day and today is a particularly bad day. lol
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    I don't know about morbidly obese, but it looks to me like he lacks focus. He should get that checked out or he won't accomplish his goals.

    Haha! Yes, I was disappointed myself. It's hard to really tell just how fit he is. LOL!
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    A little blurry I know but it's the most recent without a shirt that I have of him. He's 5'10" 225 lbs.

    Okay, criticism of BMI measurements aside, 5'10" and 225 is not morbidly obese.

    Morbid obesity is generally characterized by a BMI greater than 40. At these measurements, his BMI is 32.5. That is obese by BMI standards, not morbidly obese. There is a difference.

    And yes, he is obviously one of the rare individuals whose high muscle mass results in a BMI that is not indicative of his body fat. Most of the rest of us, though, are not such special snowflakes.
  • DiannaMoorer
    DiannaMoorer Posts: 783 Member
    Your guy should have just laughed in the doctors face. He looks great! I don't take a lot of what doctors say seriously and they often don't know a lot about fitness and nutrition. Not all are like this but many that I have come across are. I had one doctor prescribe iron drops for my infant son only because I was nursing him. And he didn't even give him an iron test. That went in the trash. But that's besides the point. He looks great!
  • frommetobetterme
    frommetobetterme Posts: 124 Member
    Sounds like the doctor just looked at the BMI chart and made an uneducated statement. Did he tell your guy that he was obese and leave it at that, or tell him he was obese according to the chart but explain that it doesn't apply in certain situations?

    I am not in the medical field, but I would think that since your guy is so muscular and this was a yearly checkup type thing, he should have been asking him about his diet and lifestyle, screen for things that put him at risk for heart disease, for conditions that men are prone like prostate issues etc, maybe do some blood work...

    But if he declared with no preamble and no explanation at the end, then the doctor isn't good.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    His doctor needs to see an eye-doctor.

    I was thinking this too... blind doctors probably shouldn't be giving health advice.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Send his doctor here so we can eviscerate him.
  • jennpaulson
    jennpaulson Posts: 850 Member
    I don't know about morbidly obese, but it looks to me like he lacks focus. He should get that checked out or he won't accomplish his goals.

    Haha! Yes, I was disappointed myself. It's hard to really tell just how fit he is. LOL!

    LOL!! He's actually very fit. And has no problem at all with focus. This one is a bit older but is a better shot : )

    13369_1289051465423_6354409_n.jpg
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    Hahaha...yeah, any doctor would say that he is considered morbidly obese. Like the other folks said, it's just related to height, weight, age, and gender. That's it! It doesn't take muscle, or boobs for that matter, into consideration. You could be skinny as a rail, with DD's, and throw everything way off. :laugh: :wink: Yeah, I don't have that problem. Lol.
  • Nicolee_2014
    Nicolee_2014 Posts: 1,572 Member
    That is why the whole BMI thing is silly!
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    I genuinely believe that people who tag bodybuilders with low body fat as "morbidly obese" are verifiable fools. These people are innately suited to be bureaucrats or paper pushers at the DMV.
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    Otherwise, it's a pretty good scale.
    Have to disagree there. Maybe it's a height thing, but I looked obese at the upper end of a healthy BMI and slightly fat at a BMI of 23. My doctor may have chosen an outdated 19th century formula over the visual evidence but excess adipose tissue is a big health risk for apple - shaped bodies.

    Rather than rely on BMI and ignore the genetic outliers, it would be much more productive to encourage healthy habits that favor a lean body composition.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Hahaha...yeah, any doctor would say that he is considered morbidly obese. Like the other folks said, it's just related to height, weight, age, and gender. That's it! It doesn't take muscle, or boobs for that matter, into consideration. You could be skinny as a rail, with DD's, and throw everything way off. :laugh: :wink: Yeah, I don't have that problem. Lol.
    Again, age and gender have NOTHING to do with BMI. Height and weight only.


    Always funny to me when people criticize something without having a clue what it actually is.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Otherwise, it's a pretty good scale.
    Have to disagree there. Maybe it's a height thing, but I looked obese at the upper end of a healthy BMI and slightly fat at a BMI of 23. My doctor may have chosen an outdated 19th century formula over the visual evidence but excess adipose tissue is a big health risk for apple - shaped bodies.

    Rather than rely on BMI and ignore the genetic outliers, it would be much more productive to encourage healthy habits that favor a lean body composition.
    A BMI of 23 is still at the upper end of the scale. Normal BMI is between 18.5 and 25. Some people belong closer to 19, others belong closer to 25, and genetic outliers belong outside the curve, but those are mostly rare exceptions.

Categories