Do you think BMI is a hoax?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Correlation_between_BMI_and_Percent_Body_Fat_for_Men_in_NCHS'_NHANES_1994_Data.PNG


Don't you see men who are fit with a high bmi but low bf% seem to be the exception. Although this chart is from the 90s. I wonder how much it's changed since then.

Inappropriate use of the word hoax. It isn't Area 51, it's a sometimes inaccurate measure of health.

but wasn't it a measure created by aliens coming to earth to harvest human meat for their fast food operations????

**** my bad bro, thanks for correcting me! :flowerforyou: You're totally right, the whole organ harvesting thing had slipped my mind when I posted that.

Hoax? No. But massively oversold and being inappropriately used now? You bet. There are MFP members here who have come on here saying they need to "crash" diet to get below some arbitrary BMI number or their health insurance bill at work will go up. I can envision a scenario where someone will not get a job simply because they don't meet the numbers on the chart, ,regardless of whether they are truly overweight or obese. There is not a single competitive bodybuilder now or in the past who wouldn't be considered obese. At his prime, Arnold Schwarzenegger (6'4") weighed 260 which put his BMI at 31.6. You wanna tell "The Terminator" that he was obese? Go ahead. Be my guess. This week is the Mr. Olympia competition in Las Vegas. Anyone want to get out there and tell all those competitors, with body fat numbers at 3-5% (or less) that THEY are obese?

Take my partner and I. I'm about an inch shorter than he is and about 5-10 pounds heavier. He has a few beers every night and has the beer belly to show it (not bad but noticeable when nekkid, which is how I like him. :blushing: ) My last calculation put my bf% at about 17%. He's in size 34 pants, I'm in size 28. Yet he has a BMI of about 23 (and normal) where I have a BMI in the low 25's (or overweight). You tell that to any of our friends and they'll laugh you out of here. I could lose 40 pounds and still be considered "normal" weight. As it is, I can't count the number of people who tell me to stop losing because I am getting way too thin. And I think I am too.

So to use the BMI in appropriately to "punish" people who really are in good shape, as some employers are starting to do, is simply wrong in my estimation. And in that sense, it is a hoax. At least the implementation is fraudulent.

Inappropriate use of the word hoax. It isn't Area 51, it's a sometimes inaccurate measure of health.

And using Hoax for Area 51 is also inappropriate use of the word. Area 51 is real, it's an American Military base used often for top secret new military developments in aviation. (Such as the U2 and the Oxcart.) People often thought there were UFO's but it was usually the U2 or the Oxcart they were seeing, not aliens. http://www.nbcnews.com/science/area-51-its-purpose-declassified-no-ufos-lots-u-2-6C10931555 has some more info.

"the U-2 flight tests created an "unexpected side effect — a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects." The authors said the spy planes flew at altitudes in excess of 60,000 feet, which was not thought possible at the time. Thus, air traffic controllers began receiving flurries of UFO reports from pilots who saw the planes above them."

Really fascinating stuff. (And often terrifying when you read up on the nuclear bomb testing going on at the Nevada test site and the like... )

Measure your body fat percentage, if it's over 22-25% probably would be "healthier" to keep dieting.

That being said, I'm nowhere close to that point and may never be, though I hope to be. You've accomplished a lot on your weight loss journey and should be proud. You are miles healthier now than you were at the beginning of your journey. As far as gaining more confidence, and not be embarassed around people, any man/woman who didn't want to get to know you because you were 220 is so shallow as to not be worth your time. Lots of women like men with a little meat on them. Apparently we are comfier to cuddle with. That's my experience anyway.

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yep

Considering the fact that it doesn't really take into account your muscle vs body fat percentage...I'd say it's pretty useless. They used to "test" our BMI's at school. They told me that I was at risk for being obese. I was 5'4 and 115 pounds at the time. lol

i firmly believe that it is a very inaccurate means of judging health. according to that scale, my ideal weight is approx. 135lbs. as a healthy, 5'8 19-year-old my most comfortable, maintainable weight is closer to 150lbs. the last time i was near 135lbs i was very unhappy and very stressed. i would rather not return to that just because of the BMI scale.

Starting next year, my employer will use BMI as one of the biometrics they look at in order to determine whether we earn cash rewards in our health care reimbursement accounts. If an employee meets certain targets (based upon the American Heart Association guidelines) for BMI, blood pressure, total cholesterol, cholesterol/HDL ratio, glucose, and tobacco use, the employee will receive the reward, The company's rationale is that meeting optimal targets reduces the employee's long-term risk for chronic conditions, which helps reduce health insurance costs.

One more reason to keep going to the gym!

i firmly believe that it is a very inaccurate means of judging health. according to that scale, my ideal weight is approx. 135lbs. as a healthy, 5'8 19-year-old my most comfortable, maintainable weight is closer to 150lbs. the last time i was near 135lbs i was very unhappy and very stressed. i would rather not return to that just because of the BMI scale.

BMI doesn't give anyone a single numeric weight goal, nor is it age specific. As a 5'8" person, BMI says a healthy weight is anywhere from 125 to 163. So your 150 is just fine - and healthy according to BMI. I agree that it's not a unilateral or even the most appropriate measure of health, but your situation fits well within what BMI considers as healthy (and not an outlier example of why it's "bad").

It dates back to the mid 1800's ...............not terribly relevant now

Yep BMI was created back in the 1800's for 1800's man, in the last 200 years we have made huge advancements and should have a updated the concept of BMI. BMI is a starting point but everyone is a individual and cannot fit in to a rigid model. Some people are healthy at the BMI weight and some will look anorexic at that weight

If you think you'll look "anorexic" at 25 BMI, you probably haven't been 25 BMI in a while. It's difficult to look heavily muscled in regular fit clothing at 25 BMI, but it's not skinny. In areas of rampant obesity, having lean or athletic levels of body fat may appear "too thin", but that's a perception issue.

I do not agree with the BMI and although I am considered overweight by its standards, I don't care. I refuse to be within its range because I am muscular and would rather look and feel strong and healthy. Good question though because it is confusing.