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MyFitnessPal Community

Silly nurse/obese BMI

3laine75

Not sure which categories I should have put this in but wondered if anyone else saw this yesterday,

http://metro.co.uk/2014/03/26/a-picture-of-obesity-nhs-tells-bodybuilder-she-must-lose-weight-and-exercise-more-4679903/

Unfortunately, a lot of people on here have been given ridiculous advice from doctors/nurses. If they are going to continue using BMI to judge health, perhaps some training on who and what the exceptions are would be prudent?

Won't hold my breath though, I think the NHS will be handing out unhealthy advice on nutrition for some time to come.

Replies

Therealobi1

Just read the article it made me chuckle. looks like some retraining is in order. That lady looks great. She is right to be offended.

IronSmasher

I saw it. I doubt it's true. How do we know she didn't consult the nurse due to constant high BP and heart rate?

neandermagnon

because it said in the article she went to a clinic for fertility advice....

neandermagnon

never mind retraining... nurse needs common sense training.... you can see that she's not obese by looking at her. She obviously didn't go to the appointment wearing a fat suit. The nurse gave advice based on scale weight taking no other factors into consideration.

_Zardoz_

I wonder if the free advertising for her personal training business has anything to do with this story?

Therealobi1

when you go for your regular checks with the nurse they will take BP and your weight

IronSmasher

Pfft! You expect me to read the whole thing?
Still, that supports my hypothesis as to WHY she is having a medical issue, and that the nurse's advice was more likely correct, and bmi has little to do with it.

DawnieB1977

I went to see the nurse for the pill when my first baby was about 4 months old. I got told my BMI was high and I should only eat 1000 calories a day. I didn't look like this woman, who looks amazing, but I was working out 5-6 times a week, and 2 of those were hardcore PT sessions. My personal trainer was furious at the advice.

A nurse in a GP's surgery is not a specialist dietician and isn't qualified to give out advice like that. I actually wrote a letter of complaint to my surgery.

neandermagnon

have you seen her pic?

women bodybuilders may sometimes have issues with fertility, due to having a too low body fat percentage. Pray tell me how putting her on a 1000 cals/day diet and telling her to do more exercise will fix that....

KarenJanine

This is not surprising. Unfortuantely the standard NHS 'questionnaire' read from a screen when attending a clinic will always includes height and weight and will calculate BMI. It does not ask about BF%.

When attending for a check up I always get asked whether I smoke and how much I drink (alcohol) but there is never any question about my diet or exercise, on which I think there should be a much greater emphasis.

There are many other factors that should be assessed before automatically telling someone to lose weight simply because they have an above 'healthy' BMI, not to mention that a body builder is likely to have a much higher knowledge and understanding of nutrition than your average GP or Practice Nurse.

lawlorka

She went to the nurse at the family planning clinic - she was probably just getting her pill renewed or injection done. Your BP and weight is taken every time. You don't have to have a medical 'issue' to go see the nurse.

One of the reasons I started to lose weight - my nurse kept tutting me and telling me I was fat (actual words). I used to leave her office crying and feeling so rubbish about myself.

Never mentioned my weight at all the last time- not even to make note of the fact I'd lost 20 odd pounds since the last time I'd seen her.

IronSmasher

It doesn't, once again I don't believe that's what happened. The nurse would be working completely outside of their training/education/standards of practice if they told anybody that.

neandermagnon

Of course, no-one ever cuts corners, and no professionals who don't do their job properly or who forget basic stuff or who make mistakes or even just don't give a damn exist at all... and no-one ever forgets what they learned in training, or is too rushed off their feet to do a proper assessment of their patients.... the Metro is a London newspaper, so it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out the nurse had way too many patients to see in a short time, at least half of whom should have been seeing a doctor rather than a nurse, but the doctor had a really long waiting list and could only take emergency appointments for patients who were actually not breathing so the nurses end up seeing them instead, because that's how it is in some parts of London these days.... patients getting the bum's rush from the NHS in London is unfortunately very common, and mistakes are far more likely in those circumstances...

SunofaBeach14

NHS isn't alone. I've had several friends, myself included, labeled "metabo" while living in Japan, most of whom (myself excluded) are marathon and utlra-marathon runners.

SunofaBeach14

Nope. Sorry. Nurses are perfect creatures who never make stupid mistakes, because "medical profession"

Therealobi1

Oh bless you, the nurse should nt be like that.
My nurse also told me to lose weight as well but she was professional, I guess its a good thing someone says something. No one else in my circle ever told me to lose weight.

SezxyStef

what do you call a nurse who graduated at the bottom of her class...a nurse.

I've had doctors at an emergency room in the winter time to take my very sick son outside and to their office for a check because in Canada they only get paid if they see a patient in their office...so tell me again the medical profession is perfect...

and yes that doctor did graduated as a doctor in the bottom 1/4 of his class...I know that for a fact because he dated my aunt through medical school and she went up one side of him and down the other for his behaviour.

IronSmasher

It's possible a mistake was made by the nurse, or that this is a terrible, bumbling individual - we'll never know what actually happened. I didn't say what did or didn't happen, I just said what I thought was more likely.
Given the fact that a fitness professional has run to a paper to embarrass her free health service and demonstrate how she knows better... to me it's more likely the person getting the free publicity has made 'the mistake'.

Seabee74

The BMI thing by itself is rubbish.. I have been eating 1600 - 1700 calories for the past 6 months and so far have lost 37 lbs.. And some bf %.. I go to a new doctor last month with the weighing and height questions already completed, and as I talked I told him how I have been working out, eating right and losing weight. The first words out of his mouth were yea you need to be eating at 1200 calories ?? Huh, what ??? I just told him what I was doing and he moved onto another subject !! Don't know where the magic 1200# comes from but it's OverUsed !!! Insurance companies in the US also use BMI so if you have too much muscle as it adds to your weight, you may pay higher premiums ...

neandermagnon

....and she can't possibly be concerned about the danger to the health of people who are told, based on BMI alone, to lose weight when they have a low body fat percentage already...? Ya know, like me when I was 17 nearly getting an eating disorder after being told by an adult in a position of responsibility to lose 10kg (22lb) based on BMI alone when I was athletic and had visible upper abs at the time... of course there's no danger in people giving out such shoddy advice, and people given such advice who know just how potentially dangerous it can be should just shut up and not complain about it... Sorry but there are a lot of people out there who don't realise that BMI should not apply to everyone. I comment on most of these BMI threads because I know just how much damage can potentially be done when BMI charts are wrongly applied. I don't want people to put their physical and mental health at risk burning off a whole lot of lean body mass to weigh what a chart based on averages says the average person of their height should weigh....

BTW the NHS may be free but that doesn't give it the right to give shoddy advice. It gets paid by the government and the funding comes from the UK taxpayers. It's not a charity. It's accountable for the service it gives.

3laine75

I believe her 100%. My mum is an NHS nurse yet, still obsessed with low-fat and BMIs etc. she has 0 understanding of why I'm bulking and will listen to no advice regarding hormones/fat, bf% or anything remotely sensible.

Elegra2006

Yep, unfortunately I can easily believe this, girl is short, steps on scale and weighs nearly 10st 6lbs (not 10st as per conversion in article), nurse looks up table, sees girl is off the scale and give corresponding advice from BMI chart. The lass only went to get contraception sorted!

Luckily my nurse always uses my blood pressure, lifestyle and how I look rather than some out of date chart before giving me any advice.

LanceKarcher

Do not confuse this nurse with the facts of BMI interpretation. Her mind is already made up. She probably spends the majority of her day telling people to lose weight based on the numbers, and most of the time it is correct. This situation probably represents the "Peter Principle" at work. The nurse has risen to her level of incompetence, and until some Doctor tries to explain it to her and tells her to evaluate the PATIENT themselves and not just the numbers she will continue to do this. She may or may not be able to fathom this (see Peter Principle). Unfortunately, it will probably take a lawsuit from someone who has been damaged by the advice to change things.
NFL football players are most all considered obese based on BMI. If you just stand next to one wearing a baggy shirt, they just look really large. This nurse would be giving all of them the same recommendation.