What is Digg?85 Comments
- NICU, on 10/12/2007, -3/+60There's a much easier test than the BMI to see if you're healthy - If you're not sure whether or not you're healthy you're probably not.
- mojo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+34The efficiency of the body mass index has been questioned for a loooooong time.
- Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+33@Daeladus
I am constantly worrying about whether or not I am obsessive compulsive. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19A very muscular person will seem overweight using only BMI
- Daedalus81, on 10/12/2007, -6/+17What if you are obssesive compulsive? :-P
- neoform, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9NICU:
According to the BMI scale I'm not just overweight, I'm obese.. apparently someone who's 5' 9" shouldn't weight 210lbs..
thing is, I work out at the gym for about an hour every day. BMI doesn't take muscle into consideration. - MaddDog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I'm sorry but there are a lot of NFL players who I would not consider to be healthy. Some of those linebackers may be 300-350 pounds but you can clearly see they are carrying at least 50 pounds of fat on their abdomen. Abdominal fat is _especially_ bad for cardiovascular disease.
I'm betting there are not a lot of lightning fast receivers that are above 30 on the BMI. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8ARGHHHHHH.. The company I work for just started a 'wellness" program. If your flippin BMI is >30, you pay $7.00 a week OR enroll in a weight management program and only pay #3.50 a week. What a ripoff. Shouldn't be any one's business.
Also, the company a number of years ago said if you were too skinny you had to pay... - adolfojp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Don't tell that to the anorexics.
- MaddDog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The BMI becomes a lot more reliable if you use a measuring tape around your waist at the same time. If your waist is larger than 40 inches, and your BMI is >30, then you are going to have a very hard time justifying being "muscular" or "big boned".
- TheDrunkMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"More than 56% of the NFL players had a BMI over 30, which classifies them as obese. That's double the percentage of obese men in the U.S. aged 20-39 years, according to a national survey (56% vs. 23%).
In addition, more than a quarter of those players had a BMI over 35, which classifies them as extremely obese and at very high risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease."
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=43759 - iamnos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6My sister-in-law, and others, keep talking about trying to lose weight. I keep telling them that you don't want to lose weight, you want to lose fat. There's not always an easy way to tell if what you are doing is working, except by things like BMI and weight. However, they're not great either.
I was fairly tall and skinny. Some friends and I started going to the gym. I gained weight, yet this was healthy for me. Now, years later, I've got a couple inches around my waist I'd like to lose. I've started running, and tried to adjust my diet a bit as well. After a few weeks of running, I could see a difference, but the scale didn't see anything difference (so my BMI wouldn't change either). So, losing weight, or lowering your BMI is not a great measurement for how healthy you are, or if you are improving.
I seem to remember another scale, that involved a lot more measurements, like circumference of various areas of your body (neck, chest, waist, wrists, etc) that seemed like it should produce better results, but I can't seem to find any information about it. - RooX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6BMI hasn't been an accepted practice to determine one's health for as long as i remember. Cant think of a single professional in any health related field that has used it for anything other than the most basic of outlines in many many years. Used in conjunction with other tests it can be useful, but i rarely use it any more.
- Wireddd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8When I played soccer in highschool I weighed 210 lbs at 5' 10" My doctor at the time told me that I was stage I obeese when I went in for a physical. He determined this by looking at my BMI. I was doing professional speed/strength training at the time and tracked my body fat percentage once a week. At the time I had 7% body fat. I laughed pretty hard when I realized he was serious and then switched doctors.
- sinurgy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@maddog
You'd be pretty hard pressed to find a 300lbs linebacker muchless one at 350lbs!! I think the players you are trying to refer to are linemen, especially offensive linemen. Those are the 300+players and yes many of them are overweight though not even close to the degree the BMI would indicate!!!
This is how utterly ridiculous the BMI is...LaDanian Tomlinson has a BMI rating of 31.7!!!
For those of you who don't know about him he is the running back for the San Diego Chargers and likely one of the most in shape athletes in the entire league!!!!!! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The military uses it if you weigh in over the allowed amount. I know a guy who barely passes under the BMI test and he's solid muscle, he can't bulk up more, had to cut off only benching about 550-600 lbs and just work on maintaining that because if he bulks up more he'll be seen as overweight by the army.
- bowels, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don't need to know a chick's BMI in order to know if she is a fat chick. Nor do I need to ask her to get on a scale. A fat chick is a fat chick, and it is plainly evident if she is busting out of her clothes anywhere else besides her rack.
We don't need science to determine if excess fat is present, because it will be right there in front of us.
(I apologize to any fat chicks that I may have offended.) - waynechng, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5The only reason the BMI is used is to encourage the American consumer to buy more crappy diet food and for the insurance companies to push up their charges cause the insuree is "obese". There's nothing scientific about the BMI. Anyone can throw a bunch of variables around and try to justify the equation.
- Dakana, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4[[Timdigg]
"If you're not sure whether or not you're healthy you're probably not. "
I disagree with this test
I know people who seem and feel very healthy...yet they couldn't be because of how big they are...
even me I'm 10.5 lbs overweight...I feel perfectly fine.....yet I know I'm out of shape]
You just proved that the test works by saying "yet I know I'm out of shape" - kokorhekkus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@AgntOrnge
"Many health insurance companies still use it as a sole basis for qualifying applicants. As the article states its quick and easy though as it also states in some cases it is very wrong."
And for the insurance companies it works - they're not trying to determine if you're actually healthy, they're trying to maximize their profits and minimizing risks.
So instead they pick an extremely simplistic cut off that is true for a very large percentage.
BMI is not perfect and I've never met anyone that claims it is - except people who write sensationalist articles that is. But it has its use. - Valmorian, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6The majority of people who would be concerned about their diet and health can likely rely upon BMI anyway. Are there REALLY that many super muscular people out there that are concerned about their BMI showing them to be "obese"?
- jasondragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Nothing in here new. We've known about BMI and having too much muscle for a long time.
- bitweever, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6I'm a Dietetics student, and we use BMI. Not for determining ideal weight, but rather just as a tool. We're more interested in changes in a person's weight than what they currently weigh. We realize it's not 100% accurate, but it's at least a good 'thumbnail'. Our number 1 rule for Clinicals is "SEE the patient", i.e. you can't diagnose by how someone looks on paper.
- dootisterhans, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6I call ***** on the guy that benches 550-600 pounds.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4ROFL, people knowledgable about health and athletics havent taken the BMI scale seriously in decades.
- adolfojp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I am 5'10" and my optimum weight is 180. According to the BMI I am considerably overweight.
I am heavily built with short legs and wide shoulders. Once I got sick and dropped to 170 and looked emaciated and people would be concerned about my health.
My friend's nephew is also heavily built, so his normal weight is higher than the one dictated by the BMI. However, the nutritionist at his head start program insisted in putting him in a strict diet or have him expelled of the program. Needless to say, the kid didn't look healthy, got weaker, his ribs were showing, and his nutritionist still considered him to be overweight. His mom used common sense and started feeding the kid a good breakfast and dinner to counteract his almost nonexistent lunch at school. Adhering to the BMI would have cost that kid his health.
The BMI must be stopped from being used as the inflexible standard by which all bodies must be measured. Trying to make everyone, regardless of his/her body composition, adhere to this standard will only succeed in making some people unhealthy. Many others will try to reach a distorted and impossible goal.
I also believe that this BMI is responsible for the statistics that state that more than half of the Americans are overweight. A lot of us aren't carved out of the same mold and cannot be measured with the same standards. - bryclark21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What kind of company actually does this? Just curious?
- jrefenes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I've been telling people for years that the BMI is a crock. Much the same as any news related to personal health.
People, everyone's personal health is different!! Just like everyone is different!!. The BMI does not take this into account. It applies one "standard" body type and build to people of different heights. If you don't fit within that curve, you're overweight or obese.
Please, take this into consideration when reading ANY "scientific" report about what foods are healthy (remember butter being BAD for us years ago, and now suddenly Margarine is bad?). - drychean, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2the thing that really surprised me about this article is where they are talking about how its just now coming under question. I've questioned it ever since i heard of it! I'm a pretty skinny guy, but I'm almost borderline overweight according to my BMI. They really need to come up with a better measure...
- atrain15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I am 6'1 and the BMI says 190 pounds is overweight. I don't ever work out, but I'm not fat at all. At 190 people ROUTINELY tell me I'm too thin. I have broad shoulders and what not but it's ridiculous that my optimum weight is considered overweight.
The hilarious thing is that if I weighed 155 lbs at my height I'd be in the healthy range according to the BMI. What a crock. At 155 and my height, I'd be dead. - Ystig, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3You know, the *only* time I ever hear BMI mentioned is when it's denounced. Virtually every time it's applied, it's merely an argument for why BMI shouldn't be used, or why it's misapplied. Which is interesting. Since I've never actually heard anyone apply this ever-so-misapplied concept as the basis for a serious nutritional argument before.
I get the eerie sense that it's merely been a straw man for people with grievances against dietary health in general, at this point, if indeed it was ever much more than that.
"The use of BMI as a sole criterion for assessing nutritional health is proof that those who use it are misinformed!"
"But no one uses it as a sole criterion for assessing nutritional heath"
"Well, if they did it'd be proof that they're wrong!" - blasphemer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@iamnos,
"I seem to remember another scale, that involved a lot more measurements, like circumference of various areas of your body (neck, chest, waist, wrists, etc) that seemed like it should produce better results, but I can't seem to find any information about it."
You can get your self a pair of body calipers that will give you a pretty accurate % of body fat verses lean mass. This is way better then going by BMI.
Heres a site that can help out
http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/fatcent.htm - CraigJ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@dootisterhans - maybe, maybe not. The group I used to work out with had a guy that would work out with 405+ and one that could bench 600+(not work out with it.) I only bench about 300. We all clean - some of us have different genes - thats all - One guy in the group that worked out with 360+ was 60 years old.
I am 6'2", 230 and have a BMI that is borderline obese, and I had issues getting life insurance. I work out almost every day and do lots of cardio, yoga and weightlifting. BMI is OK as one tool for the average person. maybe. complete ***** for athletic people. - rickcarson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There are plenty of fat people desperately looking for any excuse that they can find.
- rubicante, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@CraigJ - Yes, you are 100% correct. I just think there are far more men who believe that they are not fat because they workout than there are men who are not fat because they workout. That's what I meant to say, anyway, but I'm sick and grumpy.
- mattbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Obesity is like obscenity - I know it when I see it.
- jaymzdean, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2I'm a nationally certified strength and conditioning specialist (12 years) with a bachelors degree in kinesiology and no, the BMI is not a good tool. It's dangerous and needs to be discarded.
- ZenMojo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3BMI sucks. It doesn't take into account dense body mass like muscle or bones, and it also doesn't do very well for water retention.
- jaymzdean, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1What is your waist size?
- atb12688, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes even those linemen that weigh 350 lbs. are in incredible shape. Orlando Pace, the Rams Left Tackle, runs a 4.6 40-meter, a time that anyone would be proud of. (he also benches much more and jumps much higher than the average person) Aside from all that, he is in incredible shape for his size. As far as i'm concerned, the BMI doesn't apply to anyone in the NFL or any other pro sport. It doesn't take into account the fact that these guys work out constantly, running, lifting, learning, etc. Its not like these guys play on sunday and get the rest of the week off. With a win, most teams allow the day after a win to be off but the rest of the week is hard work. Don't assume that because an NFL player looks fat that it means that he is out of shape or unhealthy because he is not... They are some of the finest physical specimens in the world.
- kbillar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1According to the BMI, I'm obese...I have a 30 inch waist.
- ShadoxPrime, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1It's their business if they are paying your health insurance premium.
- ssundberg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1:: That said, I'm 5'5" and 135lbs with probably 10-12% body fat.
Not according to the BMI calculator at the National Institutes of Health. Your BMI index is actually 22.5. The good news is you're considered normal. Anything under 18.5 is considered "underweight." - bolerobell, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I completely agree.
Add to the fact that the Guardian article is full of inaccuracies. They have a predetermined point that they want to make and they are fitting the facts to their predetermined outcome.
The article states that BMI should not be considered the best health indicator. However, I've never heard of one person say it is the best indicator. The best indicator is a body fat percentage taken using a water displacement technique. BMI is a fast and simple indicator. It is a rough tool, but it can be a tool in everyone's health toolkit if you can gauge someone's weight and height.
It is an interesting phenomena by people. They build up BMI only to tear it down from that peddestal instead of addressing what it truly is: A simple tool to use when better, more accurate tools are unavailable.
I truly think that so many people in the US rally against it becasue so many people in the US are overweight or obese. The "false positive" problem with extremely muscular people is rare, and a strawman. Muscular people are more likely than not to be engaged in using more sophisticated techniques outside of BMI to gauge their general health, so therefore, BMI is of extremely limited use to them already. It doesn't matter that BMI isn't accurate for them because chances are they've already moved on to using better tools. It is, however, a good tool to use in the absence of any others (such as measurement of body fat percentage) and it should be used in the absence of something better, which fits for the vast majority of couch potato fatasses in the US. - jaymzdean, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1I'm 6'4, 220 lbs. with a 33 inch waist.
That's where the obesity is best measured...in the waist.
Oh, sure, there are a few exceptions to that rule, but few. - Recluse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I always had a feeling in the back of my mind that the BMI was full of *****.
- SteelChicken, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2BMI is noob mode way for assessing health, and does not sufficently take into account things like frame size, bone density and muscle mass.
- Lucian0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Look to professional sports for sports medicine. No trainer or doctor for U.S. pro football uses the BMI scale anymore. True, they still want to measure the amount of fat a player will have on his body, but not with such a basic system. Provided both samples have the same volume, muscle weighs more than fat; it has a higher density. According to the BMI scale, a man of height 6 foot 5 and weight of 240lbs. would have a BMI of 32.5, which equates to obesity. However, when this man can lift well more than his own weight, say by bench pressing 225lbs. 28 times, he should not be considered obese. The system isn't scaled for power lifters.
I'm not fat, damnit! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"The thing is a professional or college athlete who is muscular and has a low body fat percentage but still has a high BMI is still at great health risks"
Umm no - jaymzdean, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1What is your waist size?
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