Morbidly obese, Really??

We were just discussing this at work. We have a health screening at work on the 30th. One person passed the BMI part of it last year everyone else was considered overweight or obese. It is clearly not an accurate measurement.

The insurance companies use this as a way to increase our co-pays and premiums.

The vast majority of people do not have the kind of muscle the man in the OP has, or that ACG has.

Looking around my office, I don't see very many of us who would pass a BMI test and they are not muscular. They are fat. It's the state of the country these days.

BMI falls off when you take someone who is larger framed and has significantly more muscle than average. Otherwise, it's a pretty good scale. The BMI scale gives a good 40-pound range so it's not like it's trying to fit every person of a certain height into a very narrow definition of healthy. I can weight from 103-141 and be in a healthy BMI zone. For me, 141 is still pretty fat,though I've seen others my height at around that weight who look great.

I was 102 when I was pregnant -- right up to my third trimester -- and looked and was perfectly healthy, even with terrible morning sickness. So to be 103-110 without being pregnant I think is pretty reasonable for me and others with my height and frame.

The doctor probably calculated his BMI, which takes in account your age, gender, height, and weight. It does not calculate how much muscle you have. The only way you can lower your BMI is by losing weight. I have the same problem as I'm currently at a school that I have to pass a BMI test, but because I have muscle I fail it by a couple points. It's the problem of the BMI and relying on the BMI.

BMI does not take age or gender into account. It's strictly height and weight. It's meant for broad population classification, and was never intended to be a measurement used for individuals. It will never be accurate for that, and the man who created it even said as much.

The doctors look only at height and weight, and all their calculation are based on the BMI. The BMI is flawed because it doesn't account for age, gender or and the amount of muscles.

If anybody wants, I can calculate your BMI for free. I am that nice.

Or they can do a google search and calculate it themselves for free ...

Sure! I was joking

Sorry. I thought you might be. I'm slow on a good day and today is a particularly bad day. lol

A little blurry I know but it's the most recent without a shirt that I have of him. He's 5'10" 225 lbs.

Okay, criticism of BMI measurements aside, 5'10" and 225 is not morbidly obese.

Morbid obesity is generally characterized by a BMI greater than 40. At these measurements, his BMI is 32.5. That is obese by BMI standards, not morbidly obese. There is a difference.

And yes, he is obviously one of the rare individuals whose high muscle mass results in a BMI that is not indicative of his body fat. Most of the rest of us, though, are not such special snowflakes.

Sounds like the doctor just looked at the BMI chart and made an uneducated statement. Did he tell your guy that he was obese and leave it at that, or tell him he was obese according to the chart but explain that it doesn't apply in certain situations?

I am not in the medical field, but I would think that since your guy is so muscular and this was a yearly checkup type thing, he should have been asking him about his diet and lifestyle, screen for things that put him at risk for heart disease, for conditions that men are prone like prostate issues etc, maybe do some blood work...

But if he declared with no preamble and no explanation at the end, then the doctor isn't good.

Send his doctor here so we can eviscerate him.

Hahaha...yeah, any doctor would say that he is considered morbidly obese. Like the other folks said, it's just related to height, weight, age, and gender. That's it! It doesn't take muscle, or boobs for that matter, into consideration. You could be skinny as a rail, with DD's, and throw everything way off. :laugh: Yeah, I don't have that problem. Lol.

I genuinely believe that people who tag bodybuilders with low body fat as "morbidly obese" are verifiable fools. These people are innately suited to be bureaucrats or paper pushers at the DMV.

Hahaha...yeah, any doctor would say that he is considered morbidly obese. Like the other folks said, it's just related to height, weight, age, and gender. That's it! It doesn't take muscle, or boobs for that matter, into consideration. You could be skinny as a rail, with DD's, and throw everything way off. :laugh: Yeah, I don't have that problem. Lol.

Again, age and gender have NOTHING to do with BMI. Height and weight only.


Always funny to me when people criticize something without having a clue what it actually is.