Body Mass Index and Obesity

[nickagneta]

I went to the doctor's yesterday for my annual physical and had an interesting discussion with my doctor. I was weighed in and I weighed 247 pounds at a height of 5'11" and age of 45 years old. near the end of the physical he tells me my cholesterol is high and I should start doing some exercise because my body mass index says I am squarely in the middle of the obese category.

I laughed at him. He asked why I was laughing. I told him, doc, I walk a minimum of 5 miles a day and in doing so usually am walking about a 16-17 minute mile with hills. There are days I walk 8 miles. I told him I know I need to lose some weight but even if I were to drop 20 pounds I would still be considered obese with that BMI calculator he was using.

I then asked him to go back and check what my BMI would have been at 18 years old when I was a Division III level athlete in baseball and football. He did. I weighed 190 pounds and my BMI would have put me at "overweight" then and with a BMI around 27.

What a crock!! I probably didn't have an ounce of fat on me then. I could run the 40 in 4.6 and bench my own weight easily several times minimum.

If this tool, which I see around the internet at weight loss sites all the time and is being used by the medical industry as well as the for profit weight loss industry, is telling our wives, daughters, kids and ourselves that we are obese, then it needs a serious retooling. Not every person fits into this BMI tool and for those with a larger frame and heavy muscular-skeletal makeup, such as athlete and such, it is just plain off.

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/av.htm

Here's a link to a site with one of these tools. You tell me. Enter your data and see where you come out. I found out that for me to be squarely in the middle of the healthy range I would need to lose 100 pounds. I haven't weighed 150 pounds since my freshman year of high school and would be well on my way to dying if I even attempted to get under 170 pounds, never mind down to 150.

[BballTim]

  A quick check shows PP, LeBron and Wade are seriously overweight. I checked Rondo, and he's near the high end of normal weight.

[moiso]

I can't get the link to work, but at my job we recently had a health fair type of thing, in which my figures classified me as obese.  Never mind that I'm a bodybuilder who has a six pack and did a 100mile bicycle ride on Sunday.  All those figures kind of anticipate the person not having any muscle.

[moiso]

  A quick check shows PP, LeBron and Wade are seriously overweight. I checked Rondo, and he's near the high end of normal weight.

Yeah Rondo looks like a blob out there.  TJ Ford could lose a few lbs also!

[nickagneta]

  A quick check shows PP, LeBron and Wade are seriously overweight. I checked Rondo, and he's near the high end of normal weight.

TP BBall...I never even thought of inputting NBA players stats into the calculator. Guess what you did clearly illustrates what I'm talking about.

[Rondo2287]

I went to the doctor's yesterday for my annual physical and had an interesting discussion with my doctor. I was weighed in and I weighed 247 pounds at a height of 5'11" and age of 45 years old. near the end of the physical he tells me my cholesterol is high and I should start doing some exercise because my body mass index says I am squarely in the middle of the obese category.

I laughed at him. He asked why I was laughing. I told him, doc, I walk a minimum of 5 miles a day and in doing so usually am walking about a 16-17 minute mile with hills. There are days I walk 8 miles. I told him I know I need to lose some weight but even if I were to drop 20 pounds I would still be considered obese with that BMI calculator he was using.

I then asked him to go back and check what my BMI would have been at 18 years old when I was a Division III level athlete in baseball and football. He did. I weighed 190 pounds and my BMI would have put me at "overweight" then and with a BMI around 27.

What a crock!! I probably didn't have an ounce of fat on me then. I could run the 40 in 4.6 and bench my own weight easily several times minimum.

If this tool, which I see around the internet at weight loss sites all the time and is being used by the medical industry as well as the for profit weight loss industry, is telling our wives, daughters, kids and ourselves that we are obese, then it needs a serious retooling. Not every person fits into this BMI tool and for those with a larger frame and heavy muscular-skeletal makeup, such as athlete and such, it is just plain off.

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/av.htm

Here's a link to a site with one of these tools. You tell me. Enter your data and see where you come out. I found out that for me to be squarely in the middle of the healthy range I would need to lose 100 pounds. I haven't weighed 150 pounds since my freshman year of high school and would be well on my way to dying if I even attempted to get under 170 pounds, never mind down to 150.

I know that this is a little off from what you were talking about nick but the BMI thing got me pretty fired up the other day. 

My girlfriend loves that show, Little People Big World.  And the mom on that show went to the doctors and they told her that based on the same scale she was morbidly obese and really needed to lose  weight.  And she does not look that overweight to me at all, you then see her go to her car and start crying because she is so upset over it.  then she goes and works with a clinical trainer who works her untill she throws up on the show. 

Now maybe they have an altered scale for little people that they used on her, but they didn't indicate that on the show. they made it seem like based on her height and weight she didnt fit into a mathematical equation and was therfor overweight. 

So as i said, i got kinda fired up haha

[nickagneta]

I went to the doctor's yesterday for my annual physical and had an interesting discussion with my doctor. I was weighed in and I weighed 247 pounds at a height of 5'11" and age of 45 years old. near the end of the physical he tells me my cholesterol is high and I should start doing some exercise because my body mass index says I am squarely in the middle of the obese category.

I laughed at him. He asked why I was laughing. I told him, doc, I walk a minimum of 5 miles a day and in doing so usually am walking about a 16-17 minute mile with hills. There are days I walk 8 miles. I told him I know I need to lose some weight but even if I were to drop 20 pounds I would still be considered obese with that BMI calculator he was using.

I then asked him to go back and check what my BMI would have been at 18 years old when I was a Division III level athlete in baseball and football. He did. I weighed 190 pounds and my BMI would have put me at "overweight" then and with a BMI around 27.

What a crock!! I probably didn't have an ounce of fat on me then. I could run the 40 in 4.6 and bench my own weight easily several times minimum.

If this tool, which I see around the internet at weight loss sites all the time and is being used by the medical industry as well as the for profit weight loss industry, is telling our wives, daughters, kids and ourselves that we are obese, then it needs a serious retooling. Not every person fits into this BMI tool and for those with a larger frame and heavy muscular-skeletal makeup, such as athlete and such, it is just plain off.

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/av.htm

Here's a link to a site with one of these tools. You tell me. Enter your data and see where you come out. I found out that for me to be squarely in the middle of the healthy range I would need to lose 100 pounds. I haven't weighed 150 pounds since my freshman year of high school and would be well on my way to dying if I even attempted to get under 170 pounds, never mind down to 150.

I know that this is a little off from what you were talking about nick but the BMI thing got me pretty fired up the other day. 

My girlfriend loves that show, Little People Big World.  And the mom on that show went to the doctors and they told her that based on the same scale she was morbidly obese and really needed to lose  weight.  And she does not look that overweight to me at all, you then see her go to her car and start crying because she is so upset over it.  then she goes and works with a clinical trainer who works her untill she throws up on the show. 

Now maybe they have an altered scale for little people that they used on her, but they didn't indicate that on the show. they made it seem like based on her height and weight she didnt fit into a mathematical equation and was therfor overweight. 

So as i said, i got kinda fired up haha

Here's the thing Rondo, that reaction by the lady on the show is pretty dang common. The medical industry has latched onto this calculator and in tons of cases is  traumatizing weight conscience women with it and leading them right into a multi billion dollar fraud of an industry called the weight loss industry that will sell you all sorts of diets and systems and exercise machines that never work.

It really gets me angry. I am a pretty confident guy so I laughed at my doctor when he called me obese because I KNOW for a fact I'm not. Yeah I could stand to lose probably 10% of my weight but I'm still in pretty good shape considering my list of ailments I have. But if I wasn't so confident? What then? Would I be out there contacting jenny Craig or Weight Watchers or buying some exercise machine sponsored by some steroided out freak that claims I too can look like him by buying this machine and using it just 20 minutes a day three times a week.

What a load.

[EJPLAYA]

TP to you nick for getting that to us all. When I was 21 I enlisted in the Army Reserves and weighed 183 lbs. I had almost nothing extra on me at all and using those same type numbers they told me I had to drop 8-10 lbs in order to not be put in "fat camp" when I got there and have to spend an extra 2 weeks at basic. I ended up blowing out my knee and getting medically discharged but I was amazed at what they said. At 6'1 I felt I was in pretty good shape. I understand they have a tape test in basic that would have allowed me to be fine, but you are right these tests give no variance for different body types.

Now at 39 yrs old and 240 I could sure stand to drop down to about 205-210, but I like you play ball twice a week and golf and such and so am in better shape than that would like me to believe. I do know I would be much healthier dropping some pounds and play ball a little more like I did when i was younger, but this thing says anything over 189 lbs for me and I'm overweight. What a crock.

[fairweatherfan]

I've known about this for awhile, I'm borderline obese according to the BMI despite exercising 6 days a week and having ~8% body fat.  I understand they want an easy equation that people can calculate at home, but a body fat factor would go a long way toward increasing its accuracy.

However, to an extent the BMI is right - too much weight is a strain on the body, particularly the heart, and to some degree it doesn't matter if that's muscle or fat.  Obviously fat is worse, but overweight and highly muscular is still worse than normal weight and muscular.  So there is a grain of truth to what it's saying.  But treating very fit people as exactly as unhealthy as people who have lots of fat isn't a very good assessment.

[Evantime34]

It needs to be adjusted for body type and muscle mass. Within the last 10 years bigger muscles have become more common due to the increase in weight lifting. The BMI has not updated its scale with this change in mind. Maybe it's just me but I feel like 20 years ago the average american was thinner where now the average american has some fat on him but some muscle as well.

I'm 5'9 and have always been stocky. In high school I played varsity football and basketball and worked out 4 days a week in the offseason. During basketball season when I was constantly running sprints I weighed in at around 215. In college I got all the way up to 240 senior year. Since I graduated I've lost 45 pounds (currently 195) yet the BMI puts me on the higher side of overweight. I could probably lose 5-10 more pounds (I plan to) but if I wanted to get under that I'd have to let my muscles whither and die to do so.

The BMI needs to be adjusted. I probably know two people in good shape who the BMI accurately measures.

[jimmehx]

One of the biggest flaws with BMI as an indicator of weight status is that it can't give an accurate result for anyone who is even slightly muscular.

It was developed in some ridiculous population that didn't include obese people or women.

I wouldn't put any stock in it whatsoever. The reason it's used in clinics is that it's easier than most of the other indicators to calculate and gives a ball park level.

[Rondo2287]

It needs to be adjusted for body type and muscle mass. Within the last 10 years bigger muscles have become more common due to the increase in weight lifting. The BMI has not updated its scale with this change in mind. Maybe it's just me but I feel like 20 years ago the average american was thinner where now the average american has some fat on him but some muscle as well.

I'm 5'9 and have always been stocky. In high school I played varsity football and basketball and worked out 4 days a week in the offseason. During basketball season when I was constantly running sprints I weighed in at around 215. In college I got all the way up to 240 senior year. Since I graduated I've lost 45 pounds (currently 195) yet the BMI puts me on the higher side of overweight. I could probably lose 5-10 more pounds (I plan to) but if I wanted to get under that I'd have to let my muscles whither and die to do so.

The BMI needs to be adjusted. I probably know two people in good shape who the BMI accurately measures.

I mean at 5'8 and 154 the BMI scale puts me on the high side of normal weight, close to overweight, and I honest to god dont think my body could lose anymore weight if i tried. to get into that middle range of correct weight

[More Banners]

Thanks for spreading the word, Nick.  I had a recent go-around with my physician as well on the same issue.  The shock on her face when I asked her whether the BMI chart is designed as a diagnostic tool for obesity and she couldn't give me a straight answer.  

Truth:  It is not a diagnostic tool, and is not intended to nor should be used to diagnose obesity.  Period.

If a doc wants to use it as a guide to determine whether other tests are required (like, actually checking body fat %), fine.  No physician should look at a weight, a BMI chart, and tell a person that they are obese.

It's not just the weightlifters or athletes that get caught in this.  Folks that happen to have more torso than legs (like many of good ole Norwegian stock) tend to show as obsese as well.

Nick, and everyone else, tell your doctor to quit being lazy.  TP for promoting public health and welfare.

[Witch-King]

I'm 5'9", 165 pounds so my BMI is at 24.4. I play saxophone, basketball and soccer, I go running, work out (mostly my legs) I work construction, etc.

Even @ my current weight sometimes I still feel like I'm getting fat, especially when the situation arises where I have to chose somewhere to each lunch @ while out on the job -- construction workers aren't always the healthiest eaters by any means. 

[crownsy]

I agree as well.

I'm 6'1 and lately i've been trying to lose some weight just to feel healthier.

I'm now down to 220 from 235, and the BMI scale still says i'm way towards the high end of obese.

now, I'll abmit i have a bit of a beer belly, which is why im trying to lose the weight, but i was looking at my "target weight" the other day and it says it should be 140-160 pounds.

If i lost an additional 80 pounds, i'd be emancipated. I'm a big guy in general, and an active athlete. I played MLB in HS, and at that time i was 225 pounds, and could move pretty quick and had pretty good stamina.

It really doesn't take into account body type. Some people, as you said through skeletal or muscle build up, are just not going to weigh 140-160 pounds at 6'1.