BMI, waist and gender differences

fitwatch

I am curious about the BMI tables. I understand the differences in big muscle people, etc. but nevertheless the index is used as a general guideline. The guide does not distinguish between men and women. Should both genders weigh about the same? So for example, if one is 5'9" then a top of the range in BMI corresponds to a weight of 160 pounds. Should that be the target for both men and women? I always thought that women of that height would be closer to 130-140 pounds or 20-25 pounds lighter.

Is waist size a better measure? So does a man's 32 inches correspond to a woman's 25 inch waist? What is the experience of everyone that has achieved (or close to it) your goals.

Rae6503

yeah, it is kind of silly. My husband and I are the same height. He has an average frame for a man, I have a med-large frame for a woman. He looks about perfect at 160. I am too heavy at 160, and probably would look "perfect" at 145.

MikeSEA

I would guess it makes no gender distinction exactly because it doesn't take fat/muscle into consideration.

DonM46

Use the bmi ONLY as a very rough guide.
The equation is almost 200 yrs old.
Things haven't changed much in the last 200 years, right?????

kneeki

BMI is a useless gauge, do NOT judge your health based off of that ridiculous method. Hell, according to the BMI, I'm nearly overweight, and was - last month. =P

fitwatch

Thanks everyone. I am guessing that based on how people look seems like about a 20 pound difference. So 160 pounds on a guy is about 140 on a woman - both are 5'9". The big exception is for those that are body builders -- then one could be 180, 190 depending on the size of the muscles. Thanks again.