BMI - how much do you depend on your BMI #

JeneticTraining

BMI is just a generalization. I really do not depend on it. I eat at my BMR + calories I burned that day via cardio.

neacail

My BMI is incredibly important to decisions my physician and I are making in regards to my health, wellness, and the approach to treating my arthritis.

pghlulu

I think the funniest part of this thread are the responses calling BMI useless, but following it up with "my pants size is..."

because THAT is certainly an indicator of healthy weight. :laugh:

It directly correlates to waist size which actually is in indication of health. So -- not sure why that is hilarious, but um yeah. Yes, sizes vary -- but if you are a size 10 US your waist is likely 27-29.

Sorry, but I don't think that's very accurate....I wear a 0-2 US and my waist is 25.5. I wore a size 4 US 2 years ago when my waist was 29. Nothing close to a size 10. Waist inches, pants size (which can vary even within one department store), BMI, etc. - none of these singular things give an accurate picture of a person's overall actual body composition.

*edited for clarity

RitaB19

I think I'm going to have to state the facts about BMI since I am a Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist. The DEFINITION of Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of BODY FAT based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women. While it does have its limitations, it is a useful tools to measure underweight, healthy weight, Overweight or obese status in individuals who are not bodybuilders or athletes.

That being said, BMI also does not differentiate between body fat and muscle mass. This may often result in misleading information with regard to the amount of fat in an individual. There is a potential risk of overestimating ‘fatness’ in individuals with high muscle mass, such as body-builders, and underestimating the fat deposit in those with less lean body mass, such as the elderly.

In Healthcare settings, BMI is used it is part of the Nutritional Assessment of a patient/resident and for Medical billing purposes in the United States. I am just stating the facts here, as I use it everyday at my job. If the Patient/Resident is determined to be either underweight, overweight or obese based on weight and height alone, I must code for that. There are no exceptions.

I am 5'1" and 102-103 lb = BMI of 19.3-19.5 (Healthy Weight), I workout 6 days per week and lift weights 3x per week, but not heavy and I'm not a body builder. Personally, I am more concerned about my body fat percentage and amount of lean body mass I have.

Therefore, while BMI can be a useful health tool in many individuals it is not a useful in Body Builders and Athletes, esp. in Males who lift heavy weights, they will almost always be labeled as Overweight or Obese. Again BMI does not differentiate between fat mass and muscle mass. Better indicators for fitness level would be Body Fat %, Waist Circumference and Waist to Hip Ratio. Also go by how you look in the mirror and how you fit in your clothes.

Great link below on the Limitations of BMI and Calculating BMI

http://www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/body-mass-index-limitations.htm

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm

Waist to Hip Ratio Calculator

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/waist-to-hip-ratio-calculator/

:flowerforyou:

Thanks Coach Reddy. I'm glad you agree. :happy:

I confess to being a little confused with your post. You mention that you consider it a good indicator, and that in your job you have to apply it strictly as defined. But then provide links that talk about the drawbacks. One of my concerns if it has these drawbacks then you need to know you are in one of these groups to be able to know to either use another measure or apply a correction, and if there are other better measures (like body fat%) then why not use them instead?

Just to be a little bit pedantic BMI is not a measure of fat based on weight and height, it is an estimate, which is really the problem with it, it is very wide bell curve. Using the graph here as an example.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Correlation_between_BMI_and_Percent_Body_Fat_for
_Men_in_NCHS%27_NHANES_1994_Data.PNG

My current bodyfat is about 23% which could be anything between a BMI of about 19 to 32, my actual BMI is 29.8. I am not especially muscular. If I keep my current lean mass of 72Kg and get to 15% bodyfat (which is about where you start to show a sixpack) I will still have a BMI of about 27.5 i.e. overweight. Yet as far as my build etc I would say I was no more than average.

Nice to have a professionals view on it!

Your welcome! I gave you the exact definition straight from the website. Not my own. And yes, its an estimate. I wouldn't obsess over BMI. If you are eating healthy and exercising regularly your body will naturally slim down to a healthier weight. Not everyone has access to getting their body fat measured. In addition, some methods have a high degree of error. If you Body Fat got down to 15%, there is no way you would be overweight. Again BMI is not useful in bodybuilders and athletes. BMI Percentiles are also used in schools to assess if children's weight and health status.

mlcrruth

I rely on it, not much, but I do.

One thing I hate is those generic body fat electric calculators. Especially the hand held ones. They show me to be around 10% body fat. NOWHERE CLOSE to what I really am. I wish I actually could give myself a decent body fat guestimate. My arms and legs dont have much fat. Im guessing that is why the handheld does not read right.

One thing I did like on bb.com was the body fat estimation thread.

Would it be worth starting that here?