Do you trust BMI?

P

pumpkinoune

Full Member
I was just looking at what my weight would be for a bmi of 25 and 30 and i realised that if my bmi is 30 i am 2 stones overweight. So I find it hard tobe told you are obese because you are 2 stones overweight. what do you think?
 
In another thread of mine, my friend is a rower and according to her BMI she is overweight which is ridiculous.

A few years back my doctor put me on diet pills and the nurse who checked me every 2 weeks told me that the charts arent right. It all depends on body 'size' and structure. Not everyone who weighs the same is built the same
 
I don't think it's correct either. At the start of this year I was just under 12 stone yet that gives me a healthy BMI when I clearly looked overweight. I'm down to a BMI of 23 now but I still look overweight. It completely depends on body type I think!
 
BMI is a generalisation. Then, it depends on your built, on the composition of your body. A much better measurement is your fat percentage, because that is much more personal. A woman's body should have a minimum of 6% body fat, which is essential for the body's survival. up to 12-15% is athlete, 15% to 25% is normal from what I remember, and then there was the obese and morbidly obese. You need a precision instrument used by doctors and dietologists to measure precisely your body fat, but you can find out roughly your level through fat measurement scales and other tools.
 
the scales in boots measure your body fat :)DescriptionWomenMenEssential fat10-13%2-5%Athletes14-20%6-13%Fitness21-24%14-17%Average25-31%18-24%Obese32%+25%+

DescriptionWomenMenEssential fat10-13%2-5%Athletes14-20%6-13%Fitness21-24%14-17%Average25-31%18-24%Obese32%+25%+
 
bmi is not good at all, because it compares your height against your weight.

your weight is influenced by a huge number of things, i.e. a high weight does not neceserarily mean someone will be unhealthy (e.g. body builders are very healthy, but have huge weights due to all the muscle mass, and bmi would call body builders over wieght, which is nonsense)...

forget bmi, its useless. this is a more effective technique, trust me. put your hand on your belly, and if you feel fat, then you need to loose some of that fat. simple as.

there are people on this forum who do not loose any weight, but yet they get fatter or skinnier...what does that show?...it shows your weight is not the only factor which influences your physical size.

http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world-off-topic/182984-its-not-about-weight.html ...
 
I find BMI very depressing! I'm 'obese' according to it which is silly really at only just over 2 stone overweight (as the poster says above). 'Obese' is such a horrible word....... they should change the categories to something like Little Plump, Bit More Plump, Slightly Overweight, Little More Overweight...... etc etc!
 
Totally agree that BMI is definitely not the last word on body types - my DH is very muscly with not much fat to speak of, yet because he's 'only' 5'7", he's classed at the higher end of obese, and he most definitely is not!! :rolleyes:
 
I think BMI isn't very accurate but it's a guideline for most people. Remember that when we're talking about bmi we can't includ bodybuilders, athletes, etc.
The best mesure is body fat;) But if you're little active bmi is ok.
Plus, waist to hip ratio is also very important health wise.
 
I think bmi is tosh! doesnt take into account frame size.
the best weight calculator is the one on dukan diet site to see what you should weigh.
 
LVLLT said:
I think bmi is tosh! doesnt take into account frame size.
the best weight calculator is the one on dukan diet site to see what you should weigh.
Click to expand...

I just joined up to that to see what it says and interestingly, it recommended my "true weight" as almost a stone more than I'm aiming for and it's right at the top of the healthy BMI range. Very interesting indeed.

I decided not to sign up for the 'coaching' at almost £150.00 though ;)
 
LVLLT said:
I think bmi is tosh! doesnt take into account frame size.
the best weight calculator is the one on dukan diet site to see what you should weigh.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link?

I'm small framed and I'm wondering if I'm already at me ideal weight for my frame or if I should lose a bit.

If large frames are on the top of healthy bmi, it's likely that small frames are on the lower side.

Thanks
 
I don't think anyone has ever claimed that BMI is a stict rule.

It is there as a guide. When you remove the very athletic and very slim people from the equation, it's a fairly good guide.

I would put money on none of us ("us" being people who know we are fat and need to lose weight) being extremely athletic, and so I would bet that we really shouldn't be worrying about the effect of muscle mass in calculating our BMI!

I have set myself a target weight that is in the middle of the healthy range BMI for my height.

I don't know what i will look or feel like at that weight cos I've been overweight since I can remember.

I used the chart to set the goal... once I reach that goal (I will, i will, will! ) I will then reassess based on how I feel.

If I feel still flabby i will adjust my target lower... conversely if i actually feel to skinny (WTF does that feel like?!) I may adjust my target up.


Does anyone here know what they look and feel like tat every weight? I know I don't!
I just think the BMI measurement is a good starting point...then we can make up our own minds what's right for us when we get there!
 
the link has been inlcuded from Hannata.
I found this much more interesting re wrist/bone/frame size and it also gives you a realistic goal as to where you can possibly stabilize. Cos we all know how easy it is to put it back on. Of course we cant be all the sizes/shapes/weights we were when we were 16 and this is a good indicator.

I didnt do the coaching just did it myself.
 
Yeah I agree that BMI is a good aiming point.... but its good to take other measurements (such as that dukandiet thing, and waist measurements/dress sizes), but most importantly what makes you feel happy.

Also its the ability to maintain! I mean lets face it if you have to live on nothing but salad to maintain a BMI of 20 well its really not worth it... life is to be enjoyed, not starved through.
 
accoring to the Dukan diet thing my ideal weight is 11 stone 6. I think that's probably about right to be honest. I'm 5 ft 6.5.
 
Its pretty much a generalisation but its an ok guideline if you treat it as just a guideline.
 
According to an article I read ages ago even Brad Pitt is classed as "obese" according to the BMI scale. Also a lady I worked with, her 16 year old niece was told she was overweight by her school nurse who was going on BMI, the girl is only a size 10 (US 6) and is 5'6, and as a result of being told she was overweight went on a crash diet.
 
hannata said:
what the...."Your True weight is 13 st 7 lbs." 189lbs @ a bmi of 27!! Here's me looking to get down to 12 stone!

I did the wrist test thing and there was a good inch between my fingers.... I had an idea that I have a heavy bone structure but thats pretty bad =P

www.dukandiet.co.uk
Click to expand...


It said my true weight is 11 st 3 !!

thats far too high
 
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