Is the BMI really a good indication of how healthy you are?
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Is the BMI really a good indication of how healthy you are?I see people who's BMIs are over and they look healthy and there are people like me who's BMIs are normal (21.5) yet still look way too skinny. i am 6'2 and 12 stone and i am just skin and bone, i would look much healthier at around 14 stone which would out me in the over weight category or close to it.
anyone else think that BMI is a load of ****? -
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Re: Is the BMI really a good indication of how healthy you are?Healthy, not so much. Health is far more complex than one measure can ever capture.
In terms of looks, most men will look better with a bit muscle on them which will put them over/the high end of 'healthy' because it's not meant for fit people really. It works best for people who sit on their arses all day -
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Re: Is the BMI really a good indication of how healthy you are?It's not a load of **** because it's a classification system based on susceptibility to diseases associated with being over/underweight e.g. obesity increases your risk of cardiovascular events and the average effect across the population is quantified using the BMI scale. You are correct, however, that it is not always completely valid in all individual cases. BMI is just an indicator that is used in combination with other measures, so it isn't too helpful when taken standalone.
It's worthwhile saying that your own assessment of your physical appearance doesn't necessarily correlate directly with your health. If your weight is stable and you're generally well, then with a BMI of 21.5 you're probably healthy regardless of the fact that you'd rather be packing a bit more mass with which to attract the ladies. If you do get up to 14 stone then the effect on your health will depend upon the composition of the extra mass. Additional muscle will be both healthier and more attractive than an expansion of adipose tissue, even though the BMI will be the same in both circumstances. -
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Re: Is the BMI really a good indication of how healthy you are?It depends on your body structure - my friends dad is really tall but super muscly, but he appears as obese because of the weight of his muscle... so yeah BMI is a fairly useful guide but it doesnt really work terribly well:/
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Re: Is the BMI really a good indication of how healthy you are?The simpler the method of checking how healthy you are the more limitations it has. BMI isn't too bad in this day and age unless the person is too tall, too short or too old/young. It's also limiting if the person in question is really muscular. You'd think with that many limitations it'd be terrible but honestly the way I see it it's a way for us to tell people they're fat because a calculator says so. Most people that are overweight know they're overweight and don't need a number to tell them...(Original post by coolWhip123)
I see people who's BMIs are over and they look healthy and there are people like me who's BMIs are normal (21.5) yet still look way too skinny. i am 6'2 and 12 stone and i am just skin and bone, i would look much healthier at around 14 stone which would out me in the over weight category or close to it.
anyone else think that BMI is a load of ****?
