Why I think The BMI scale is stupid: I am overweight
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AlsDonkBoxSquat
Posts: 6,128 Member
Yes, but 140 pounds and 5'3" tall I am considered overweight. I'm also a size 2 or four or six depending on vanity sizing or a small to medium generally small. This is me:
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Replies
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The picture hasn't come out.
The BMI scale should be used as a guide only.
So it doesn't work for you but do you look at it and worry that you are overweight? I doubt it
It does however give an good guideline for many people
My advice then, if you know it doesn't work for you ignore it and use some other measure0 -
BMI is a sweeping generalisation almost to the point of stupidity.
In other news, you are slammin'!0 -
You are obviously in the minority. BMI isn't stupid, and for the general population it works. There's going to be outliers (like yourself), but overall it works.
Ignore it, go by BF% and don't make others think it isn't reasonable when the majority of the time it is.
I'm not very muscular, but started out with a 27 BMI, I knew at that point I was really overweight and knew I had to something about it. Now I'm 20.5 BMI and now aiming for 20. Most people will fall into the catagory - I know my BF, most of my friends and I do. It really depends on your body's make up.
Good for you showing off, but I doubt the validity of this topic. Sorry.0 -
No need to be slightly confrontational. My point is that it's not the end all be all, and neither is the scale, it's important to use tools in perspective. Honestly the best guide is bodyfat%, while mine is probably 5% - 7% higher than I'd like it to be, I'm by no means unhealthy.
Also, while it's important to keep it in perspective, what do you think my insurance company will do with that information . . . after all they are judging me by simple metrics only and the doctor would put down that I am overweight. All of the information they gather regarding group metrics (including those who would rather pay the extra $500 per year instead of getting the annual physical discount) impacts the group rate my company pays, thereby impacting the rate I pay.
Again, while BMI is a tool, it's not the best available and should be used with hesitation.0 -
BMI says the most I can weigh and be in "healthy" weight is like 140lbs. :noway: I'm 5'7" tall.0
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You are obviously in the minority. BMI isn't stupid, and for the general population it works. There's going to be outliers (like yourself), but overall it works.
Ignore it, go by BF% and don't make others think it isn't reasonable when the majority of the time it is.
I'm not very muscular, but started out with a 27 BMI, I knew at that point I was really overweight and knew I had to something about it. Now I'm 20.5 BMI and now aiming for 20. Most people will fall into the catagory - I know my BF, most of my friends and I do. It really depends on your body's make up.
Good for you showing off, but I doubt the validity of this topic. Sorry.
I fail to see how the OP is "showing off" just because she's in great shape and is giving an obvious example of a flawed system. I'm another example of said flaw and I'm not even in good shape. My LBM has been measured at 17lbs higher than the max I can weigh and be "healthy". The MAX I can be. Explain that.0 -
No need to be slightly confrontational. My point is that it's not the end all be all, and neither is the scale, it's important to use tools in perspective. Honestly the best guide is bodyfat%, while mine is probably 5% - 7% higher than I'd like it to be, I'm by no means unhealthy.
This is just so awesome to see thank you for sharing!
Btw you look hot!!0 -
BMI is intended to measure populations, not individuals. It is regularly misapplied in this way because it's cheaper than more-accurate assessments of body-composition and health. Ignore it. Or, alternatively, be reassured by recent studies which show repeatedly that people in the 'overweight' category, according to BMI, have better health and mortality outcomes, in many situations, than those of 'healthy' weight.0
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On a side note, we might need a pic of the OP's 1RM OHS. :bigsmile:0
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I'm not muscular at all and have quite high bf%. At the lowest weight I've ever been, I was only just inside the healthy weight range according to BMI (a kg heavier and I would've been in the "overweight" category). Friends and family said I looked sick and weak because I was thin, especially in my legs which were wasting away. I had an eating disorder at the time and was pretty underweight (for my body size) and unwell.
That's just one example and obviously I am not the majority but I agree that other measures should be used. The problem I have with BMI is not that it's imperfect but that it's become a standard one-size-fits-all and one of the only metrics people use and it doesn't serve that purpose especially well.0 -
Nice Jade Torch costume.0
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No need to be slightly confrontational. My point is that it's not the end all be all, and neither is the scale, it's important to use tools in perspective. Honestly the best guide is bodyfat%, while mine is probably 5% - 7% higher than I'd like it to be, I'm by no means unhealthy.
Also, while it's important to keep it in perspective, what do you think my insurance company will do with that information . . . after all they are judging me by simple metrics only and the doctor would put down that I am overweight. All of the information they gather regarding group metrics (including those who would rather pay the extra $500 per year instead of getting the annual physical discount) impacts the group rate my company pays, thereby impacting the rate I pay.
Again, while BMI is a tool, it's not the best available and should be used with hesitation.
^^This^^
Being 'thin" doesn't make you healthy, being healthy makes you healthy. We are not all the same and the tool is flawed. I don't want to pay for higher insurance premiums because I choose to be muscular instead of just thin. According to mine, I am only supposed to weigh 153 lbs. I'm 5'10 with a medium frame. I look like skeletor at 153 lbs. I've been there...it ISN'T healthy for me either...0 -
I believe the CDC even says that the BMI isn't for very athletic people. What it is good at is measuring degrees of obesity. A person with a BMI of 50 is more likely to have health problems than a person with a BMI of 30, for instance.0
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BMI says the most I can weigh and be in "healthy" weight is like 140lbs. :noway: I'm 5'7" tall.
Doubtful, I'm 5'5" and a healthy BMI for me is up to 150 lbs.0 -
You are obviously in the minority. BMI isn't stupid, and for the general population it works. There's going to be outliers (like yourself), but overall it works.
Ignore it, go by BF% and don't make others think it isn't reasonable when the majority of the time it is.
I'm not very muscular, but started out with a 27 BMI, I knew at that point I was really overweight and knew I had to something about it. Now I'm 20.5 BMI and now aiming for 20. Most people will fall into the catagory - I know my BF, most of my friends and I do. It really depends on your body's make up.
Good for you showing off, but I doubt the validity of this topic. Sorry.
I would say based on the posts so far, you are in the minority....but I don't see anyone being snarky with you over it...it may work for you..that's AWESOME! I love it when stuff works for people...but it doesn't work for me or for the OP...so no need to tell us we don't have a valid point...that's just sort of rude.. :-)0 -
BMI says the most I can weigh and be in "healthy" weight is like 140lbs. :noway: I'm 5'7" tall.
That is weird, since I am 5'6" and it says I can weigh up to 156.0 -
You look quite muscular and the BMI scale always warns that it can't be used accurately for really muscular people because it will consistently overestimate. There's no reason your doctor would interpret the information as meaning you are overweight.
I'm a similar scenario, although I'm not quite so muscular. I've used measurements for a long time because I had a problem with scale obsession and my waist-to-height and waist-to-hip ratios are great, but I'm still on the border of overweight with my bmi.0 -
Again, while BMI is a tool, it's not the best available and should be used with hesitation.
Great point. BMI is a population measure of weight, e.g. it's what researchers use to determine whether a group of people are gaining or losing weight over time. It was never intended to be a personal measure of weight, but insurance companies and health websites use it because it's such a cheap and easy thing to measure. If you are in the 10% of the population at either end of the extreme (e.g., thin with very high muscle content = relatively heavy; or fat with absolutely no muscle = relatively light) then it isn't a good measure, and you seem to fit into this group.
That said, the vast majority of the population are well respresented by a BMI score, in the same way that the majority of the population are well represented by the average range for other health measures, e.g. iron or blood cell counts. But because BMI is used so widely, and nobody likes to think they're fat, it's complained about a lot more.
BMI plus an accurate measure of body fat percentage, measured through skin folds or a full-body DEXA scan, will give you an accurate measure of your body shape. And in the OP's case there is quite obviously not a weight problem, so just send a reading of your body fat percentage to your insurance as evidence that you are not overweight!
And don't discredit the BMI scale, just discredit how it is used by people/organisations that don't know any better..0 -
No need to be slightly confrontational. My point is that it's not the end all be all, and neither is the scale, it's important to use tools in perspective. Honestly the best guide is bodyfat%, while mine is probably 5% - 7% higher than I'd like it to be, I'm by no means unhealthy.
Also, while it's important to keep it in perspective, what do you think my insurance company will do with that information . . . after all they are judging me by simple metrics only and the doctor would put down that I am overweight. All of the information they gather regarding group metrics (including those who would rather pay the extra $500 per year instead of getting the annual physical discount) impacts the group rate my company pays, thereby impacting the rate I pay.
Again, while BMI is a tool, it's not the best available and should be used with hesitation.
I agree with your reasoning and my initial post was based on the topic name seeming to be the sweeping generalisation that the BMI scale is often said to be.
It is a tool and only one of the many available and as with BMR measuring web sites its always worth checking other measures as a comparison.
I am also one of the people who didn't believe the BMI was accurate and believed that I wasn't obese, but I was and the BMI Scale was telling me the truth, I just didn't want to hear.
More worryingly I am encountering more and more people who are using the "BMI is not accurate" argument to justify their continuing to lose weight even though they know the BMI has them in the "underweight" range.0 -
BMI says the most I can weigh and be in "healthy" weight is like 140lbs. :noway: I'm 5'7" tall.
That is weird, since I am 5'6" and it says I can weigh up to 156.
At 5'10 I was told 153lbs to be dead center of a healthy BMI..so I could weigh about 10-15 more than that probably and still be ok..but just seems extreme..
Just looked it up...122 to 169 lbs is considered Appropriate BMI for my height...I could cut glass with my collar bones at 122..LOL0
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