BMI LIES! THE "STANDARD CONSPIRACY" okay

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  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Lol to this thread. OP where did the 46% come from? Was your BMI 46? Cuz that's not a body fat percentage, that's your BMI. Two totally different things. You'd ideally want to look at your BMI, waist to hip ratio, and measured body fat % (actually measured, not from an online calculator) to determine if you're at a healthy weight. They're all just guides to give you an idea of any health risks you may have.

    There are charts, calculators and conversion tables that give a body fat percentage estimate from BMI. It's quite possibly the worst way to get it estimated, because it only works on totally average people. But that's what she's referring to. As to the rest of your post, she knows that. Her post was an attempt to tell other people the same thing. Her mistake was that she didn't seem to realise that most people are not familiar with that kind of conversion table. Also, she didn't communicate what she was saying clearly.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
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    this is far too much

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    over the fact that BMI doesn't work for all body types.

    go see a dietitian if you want proper body composition analysis.

    try to be happy. its worth a try.
  • cmstirp
    cmstirp Posts: 51 Member
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    Lol to this thread. OP where did the 46% come from? Was your BMI 46? Cuz that's not a body fat percentage, that's your BMI. Two totally different things. You'd ideally want to look at your BMI, waist to hip ratio, and measured body fat % (actually measured, not from an online calculator) to determine if you're at a healthy weight. They're all just guides to give you an idea of any health risks you may have.

    There are charts, calculators and conversion tables that give a body fat percentage estimate from BMI. It's quite possibly the worst way to get it estimated, because it only works on totally average people. But that's what she's referring to. As to the rest of your post, she knows that. Her post was an attempt to tell other people the same thing. Her mistake was that she didn't seem to realise that most people are not familiar with that kind of conversion table. Also, she didn't communicate what she was saying clearly.

    Are you sure? It sounds to me like she thought her BMI number was her body fat percentage.

    If she did in fact use these calculators you're talking about, then really her gripe should be with those calculators, not the BMI measurement itself. Also dietitians and doctors (at least the ones I've met) don't use BMI to figure body fat percentage. I've honestly never heard of that until this thread so I'm not surprised it's inaccurate.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Lol to this thread. OP where did the 46% come from? Was your BMI 46? Cuz that's not a body fat percentage, that's your BMI. Two totally different things. You'd ideally want to look at your BMI, waist to hip ratio, and measured body fat % (actually measured, not from an online calculator) to determine if you're at a healthy weight. They're all just guides to give you an idea of any health risks you may have.

    There are charts, calculators and conversion tables that give a body fat percentage estimate from BMI. It's quite possibly the worst way to get it estimated, because it only works on totally average people. But that's what she's referring to. As to the rest of your post, she knows that. Her post was an attempt to tell other people the same thing. Her mistake was that she didn't seem to realise that most people are not familiar with that kind of conversion table. Also, she didn't communicate what she was saying clearly.

    Are you sure? It sounds to me like she thought her BMI number was her body fat percentage.

    If she did in fact use these calculators you're talking about, then really her gripe should be with those calculators, not the BMI measurement itself. Also dietitians and doctors (at least the ones I've met) don't use BMI to figure body fat percentage. I've honestly never heard of that until this thread so I'm not surprised it's inaccurate.

    yeah you're probably right.... but my gripe is with BMI itself as I nearly got an eating disorder because of it (see my earlier post re idiot judo coach). It's well known among scientists and most doctors that it's not appropriate for everyone, but I didn't know that when I was 17. I think the message that it doesn't work for everyone does need to be out there, along with information about how to get your body fat percentage measured reasonably accurately. Even if BMI is not used to actually calculate body fat percentages, the ranges and cut-off weights between categories are based on an assumption of body fat percentage. And not everyone who's an outlier knows that they are. There are a lot of people out there, mostly women, who are striving to be a particular number on a scale, rather than trying to have a healthy body composition. And they're not all going to be small or average framed women who are doing that. So the whole message of don't focus so much on the scale, BMI doesn't work for everyone and go by body fat percentage instead, does need to be out there a lot more, IMO.
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
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    While BMI is for populations and not specifically for individuals I believe it can still be a valid tool. While there are outliers, it's a small percentage of the whole. It seems a doctor would know their patient. Back in the day the military used BMI as a measure and would grant an exception for "outliers". Never met an exception. (not to say they didn't exist, they just aren't that common.)

    Using BMI to self-measure obesity is like using WebMD to self-diagnose cancer, it's just silly.
  • Romaena
    Romaena Posts: 9
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    As I tried to explain, proponents of the bmi use a formula to calculate adiposity...

    It is: Adult Body Fat % = (1.20 x BMI) + (0.23 x Age) - (10.8 x gender) - 5.4.

    According to this, my bf percentage is 46 percent.

    My actual body fat percentage is 33.3% (give or take a couple of points), even so, that's a HUUUUUGE discrepancy.

    That was the point I was trying to make in the OP...
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
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    As I tried to explain, proponents of the bmi use a formula to calculate adiposity...

    It is: Adult Body Fat % = (1.20 x BMI) + (0.23 x Age) - (10.8 x gender) - 5.4.

    According to this, my bf percentage is 46 percent.

    My actual body fat percentage is 33.3% (give or take a couple of points), even so, that's a HUUUUUGE discrepancy.

    That was the point I was trying to make in the OP...

    well, your point was lost in a massive tirade. most people know that BMI is inaccurate, and who uses BMI for BF%?

    the answer is no one who has spent 5 minutes reading about measuring body fat on the internet.

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