how important is bmi?

Options
girlfury
girlfury Posts: 27 Member
in Motivation and Support
I don't feel unhealthy but my bmi is in the obese category...I'm 5.7 and currently 176 pounds ...should i be concerned?

Replies

  • gnat45
    gnat45 Posts: 833 Member
    Options
    I don't feel unhealthy but my bmi is in the obese category...I'm 5.7 and currently 176 pounds ...should i be concerned?

    Your BMI is 27.6, which is overweight. 30 and above is obese.

    BMI isn't perfect as it just takes height and weight into account, and doesn't consider body composition.
  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
    Options
    I'm 5 ft 7" 170lbs. My BMI is overweight. But I'm 17.5% bodyfat. Waist is 32-33. Take BMI with a grain of salt
  • girlfury
    girlfury Posts: 27 Member
    Options
    I guess I have moved down to the overweight category... was in obese category before I lost some weight..
  • Figuremum
    Figuremum Posts: 15
    Options
    I ignore BMI. Mine has me at overweight. My body fat is around 18% and I'm a size 10 ( Australian sizes).
  • missybct
    missybct Posts: 321 Member
    Options
    BMI, within medical circles, is beginning to become a bit of a contentious subject. Whilst for "A Typical Person", BMI is a good gauge of health, it's actually pretty flawed in some respects.

    As you saw, some of the posters above fit into the "overweight" category yet have trimmer, leaner and fitter bodies than they may have had a year ago. They are far healthier than before. Yet according to this arbitrary set of basic statistics, they are overweight. It doesn't count for body composition, the body structure (such as density of bones, or even bone structure) and muscle percentage.

    I'd say, providing you are not in categories above Obese Type 1, I'd take it with a pinch of liberal salt. It's a good indication that there may be weight issues, but it is certainly not something to take as gospel. It's far too generic because it's an easy formula that doesn't require much effort to work out.

    The doctors/nurses I know are forced to accept this as some parameter of health, but I know they quietly and discreetly discredit it.
  • SilverLotusGirl
    SilverLotusGirl Posts: 537 Member
    Options
    I think BMI is a good starting point and can kinda clue a person in on if they need to look into making weight changes but it's not perfect. It's like trying to paint an intricate statue with a wide brush, sure most of it will get painted and most people fall pretty neatly in the categories, but there are going to be outliers and personal things that a simple height/weight chart can't account for. There are other numbers that are more important, waist circumference, body fat percentage, how's your blood pressure, how's your fasting blood sugar, how active are you...those things matter more than BMI.

Categories