BMI

Cdcaldwe
Cdcaldwe Posts: 189 Member
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
I started playing with the BMI calculator. According to it I need to be about 174 pounds to not be considered overweight. I find this hard to believe. When i graduated from high school I was 240 and really in good shape. My first couple of years in college I lifted five days a week and weighed about 250. Has anyone else struggled looking at this?

Replies

  • Crystal_Rudolph
    Crystal_Rudolph Posts: 632 Member
    My doctor said that she wished they would do away with the BMI chart. She said that it is completly wrong, in her opinion. She told me that if I get down to the "healthy" range of 101-121 pounds; I would be just skin and bones! :noway:
  • evymvan
    evymvan Posts: 7
    From what I know, BMI is not a good measure for everyone. Try this link and see if you think this would be more suitable for you:

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/113959-alternatives-bmi/
  • rwd5046
    rwd5046 Posts: 302
    I think BMI charts are overrated, and way off the mark. Largely because I think they were generated by insurance compaines who have control problems and don't know a thing about health. Insurance compaines want perfect ultimate healthy clients so they don't have to pay out and so you will keep paying premiums, get the picture. So my advice is go by what your trusted doctor feels and tells you not a BMI chart.
  • SMK715
    SMK715 Posts: 108
    Yeah its totally inaccurate because my brother is a gym rat. He's in there ever single day for 2 hours (minimum) working a different set of muscles everyday and his BMI says he's overweight. I wouldn't worry about that. You are at a healthy weight when you look in the mirror and realize you love the way you look, not when a chart says you are.
  • notoriousgtt
    notoriousgtt Posts: 75 Member
    BMI is a nonsense anyway.

    If you were a 5 foot 3 bodybuilder it would call you obese, it takes no account of muscle size and only goes on total weight.
  • chuisle
    chuisle Posts: 1,052 Member
    The BMI is a tool to indicate general health parameters for VERY large groups of people. If you took the entire population of the United States I believe that the BMI calculator would be relatively accurate in estimating who does and who doesn't have weight related health issues.

    That said, for individuals, it is often not a good estimator of health parameters. People are different. Using a BMI to tell you whether or not you are healthy is looking at one tiny aspect of a big picture and using it to draw conclusion about the entire situation. Of course it's potentially misleading. Since you don't only know your BMI your doctor/trainer can help you look at the other pieces of the puzzle. When that is not possible (like for very large numbers of people) BMI is a next best indicator.
  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
    according to my Dr, its propaganda, another way for Government to put a label on us.......

    Id ignore it, most people would look anorexic if they weighed what the chart states for their size and weight.........
  • redheadmommy
    redheadmommy Posts: 908 Member
    I think BMI is a generally good tool, unless you have a significant amount of muscle. I think women rarely has that much muscle to the BMI to be really wrong, but for man it is a different story.
    Man who does significant amount of weight training or have a heavy physical job easily can build great amount of muscle mass that would mistakenly put them into overweight or even obese category by the BMI.
  • Cdcaldwe
    Cdcaldwe Posts: 189 Member
    Thanks for the feedback guys. I guess if i can get into a 36 pant again and XL shirts i would be at my ideal weight. Whatever that is.
  • chuisle
    chuisle Posts: 1,052 Member
    according to my Dr, its propaganda, another way for Government to put a label on us.......

    Id ignore it, most people would look anorexic if they weighed what the chart states for their size and weight.........

    Yes, statistical methods are meant to do that and actually crucial for the general functioning of economic and information systems.

    Also, the range for healthy weights is actually quite large. I am at a healthy BMI and do not look "anorexic." Blanket dismissing the BMI as a tool in that way is no smarter than allowing it to tell you how healthy are you.
  • chuisle
    chuisle Posts: 1,052 Member
    Thanks for the feedback guys. I guess if i can get into a 36 pant again and XL shirts i would be at my ideal weight. Whatever that is.

    I think that's the right attitude. Things like cholesterol levels, body fat percentage, etc. can also be great indicators of general health and risk levels :)
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
    Grrr.... BMI. My Arch Nemesis. Sorry to rant but its time to take it out and put it to rest already.

    I personally (as an "obese person" with a BMI of 30) think BMI is junk and is only an estimation based upon a completely average person.... They need to throw it away as a system. Think about it... how can you arbitrarily measure health based on so few measurments?

    According to BMI... Reggie Bush of the New Orleans Saints is OBESE... Take a look at a picture of Reggie if you don't believe me or know who he is. You will see what I mean immediately. You can find a picture here... http://coolspotters.com/athletes/reggie-bush

    BMI is a skewed calculation that was created back in the 1800's and was adopted by the insurance industry. Sadly, Doctors today still use it as standard of determining health (even though most know it's wrong). BMI has nothing to do with muscle mass, frame size (skeletal size) or general health etc... it is simply based on averages. Are you completely average? i.e. do you fit into the ideal measurements of an average person? I don't know anyone who does.

    A better approach is to determine your health based upon percentage of body fat. Body fat can be determined using immersion testing, the Bod Pod, Resistance scales, or can be also be determined based on measurements and calculations (using calipers and tape measurements)

    Oh... as for me being OBESE... Remember my BMI rating of 30? I am 5'11, weigh under 220 and wear a size 34 pants. I run 40-45 Km per week and have approximately 18% body fat which is slightly better than an average person.

    Hope this clarifies how inaccurate BMI can be.
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