According to my doctor and my BMI I'm borderline obese. But I'm also 6'5, only have a 34" waste, I'm generally fit, healthy and rather strong. And trying to get to my "ideal" weight makes me very lazy, give me a foul temper, and has me looking like a junky* long before I've got there.Are BMI's accurate for all body types or not? Should some people be using different systems but my doctor is just been lazy?
Thanks
*and this is from others, not my opinion on my looks.
koregtr - BMIS are very unreliable.. ill give u my example.. I goto the gym.. im not a die hard bodybuilder but I train hard.. so I have a lot of muscle... I can see my abs so I have a six pack.. (more like a 4 pack atm ;)
ReplyDeleteanyway my BMI is 28 because im five foot 7
so the doctor tells me to loose weight ! even thought my body fat percentage is around 12 percent ! (which is athlete status)
doctor only cares about the weight to height ratio !
so BMI is very unreliable and a USELESS as far as im concerned) indicator
shoney - BMI's are good as an overall indicator of a population's trends; it's not very good as an exact calculator for the health of an individual.
ReplyDeleteThe BMI simply calculates how heavy you are for your weight; it doesn't at all look at your body composition (a more accurate assessment of health) If you are an average person, then the BMI is an okay representation, but otherwise it's nothing to go by.
I'm 5'8'' and 175 pounds, which puts my BMI at 27.9 I think? That's overweight, going on obese. However, my bench is about 200 pounds, my full squat is 165 rep, my deadlift is 250, and my 5k run is about 25 minutes at a comfortable pace. I also have a 6 pack (a flimsy one, but still there)
BMI is not a good indicator of individual health.
ClickMaster - BMI is and has to be based on norms (statistically significant samplings of people) for it's data. If you don't fit the norms, you're BMI will suggest you are different than you really are. Here's the story.
ReplyDeleteHeight and weight are what is used to calculate BMI for a given age and sex. However, BMI is a meaningless ratio which is only given meaning by assigning certain levels of BMI relative descriptions of how they relate to health by weight. These descriptions (eg: normal, obese, underweight, etc) are all based on norms and do not apply to people who do not fit those norms.
Here's an example. Scooby (this guy ---> http://www.youtube.com/user/scooby1961 ) is 6'4" and 240 pounds. According to http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php his BMI is 29.2 and described as "overweight" and almost "obese". However, he has a body fat percent of about 8% and is obviously not overweight. He just has a lot more muscle than the norms. Hence, for him, BMI is meaningless.
BMI is only an approximate indication for people with average body types to use to determine how far from "normal" they deviate and in which direction so they can decide if they need to lose, gain, or stay the same.
If you want to find your ideal weight, go here --> http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html
Good luck and good health!!
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