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Is my brother overweight ?

Hi, I've posted a couple of threads about my weight problems before but this time I'm worried about my brother, He's 18 years old, 5ft 9 inches tall, and has steadily let his weight creep up from 10 and a half stone around a year ago to around 12 and a half stone now. He used to wear 30'' pants but there's no way he can wear them now, he mostly just wears joggers because they expand as he gains more weight. Although he was never fit, he was toned but now he's so untoned with the beginning of man boobs and a considerable sized belly, around 33'' I think. He doesn't seem concered about it, or the effect it's doing to his health. Does anybody know his BMI ? Is it healthy ? Would he be better to lose a few pounds ? I'm going to show him replys to this thread, so please be honest. I really want to help him.

Reply 1

carrotstar

BMI is mass in KG divided by height in metres squared. So weight/(height)2

He has a BMI of 80/(1.75)2 = 26, which is just barely in the 'overweight' category.

18.5 to 25 is healthy
25 to 30 is overweight
30+ is obese

Not too much to worry about at the moment, but I would definately keep an eye on it and fit in some excercise where possible! :smile:

Another thing to think about though is that it can vary a lot depending on muscle and bone mass. For instance, my Dad is 6'2'' and about 16 stone, and has a BMI of 28 (overweight), but he doesn't look fat at all. He's stronger than most men of his age (50, sorry Dad!), doesn't look particularly muscular, and doesn't look overweight either. He does vigorous excercise about 3 hours a week, but eats one hell of a lot; healthily though, not snacks, just big meals.

So what I'm trying to say is that you should judge more by your looks and how active you are rather than the BMI calculator or what a doctor might say, because its not an accurate guide for everyone.