BMI Index illustrated - slideshow. "Morbidly obese"? Really?

[Phillycat]

http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/

This is very interesting.

[billyskank]

1. What are they trying to sell?

What I mean is, when great swathes of people whom you'd think are okay or normal are categorised as having some or other condition or disorder, it usually seems to be because somebody is hawking some pill for it.

And I apologise for the length of that sentence. :D

[redqueen]

6. Who do you mean by "they"?

The website linked is pointing out how ridiculous the BMI standards are.

The BMI standards are used to fuel sales for the multi-billion dollar weight-loss industry.

[billyskank]

7. The pharma companies.

:hi:

[redqueen]

11. Aw but you're leaving out all the fad diet people!

Atkins, South Beach, etc. etc. etc.

:crazy:

:hi:

[Phillycat]

8. I think Billyskank is referring to the BMI standard-setting people as "they".

:)

[flvegan]

2. By the BMI numbers...

this guy was morbidly obese at the time this pic was taken:

[Richardo]

4. I think they meant 'morbidly obtuse'

[lildreamer316]

20. !!!!!ROTFLMAO!!!!

I LOVE IT!!
BEST description of stupidity I've ever heard!!
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[LeftyMom]

5. yeah, but you're a fattie too so what would you know?

:sarcasm:

[Silver Swan]

3. This gives more information on the subjects

http://flickr.com/photos/77367764@N00/sets/72157602199008819/detail/

[NewJeffCT]

9. Is it just me

or, have these classifications become a bit tougher over the past 10 years or so? Meaning, somebody that was merely "overweight" 10 years ago could now be "morbidly obese"

[Silver Swan]

13. Yes, they changed in 1998

http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/9806/03/weight.measure/index.html

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. according to them i am slightly overweight. its hard to be correct weigh

if you are five feet nothing.

[SeattleGirl]

12. Crickey, no wonder we have such fucked up notions of what "normal" is.

:eyes:

[Droopy]

14. I say go with where you feel comfortable

I've lost 25 pounds recently and I did that because I wasn't feeling good. Now I'm at 262 and I feel much better. I'd still like to lose some more weight, but if I had to spend the rest of my life at 262 pounds I don't think I would feel too horrible about that. BTW, I'm a damned sexy 262. :)

[LeftyMom]

15. Without similar clothing and pose, it's really hard to learn anything from photos

Also, we live in a country where fat is the new normal (presumably why many of the "normal" bodies looked a bit pudgy.) Especially if you're not in a city or on the coasts, but even there anything with a seat has had to be designed for the wider American Ass version 2.0.

That said, the BMI is a crock of shit, and you can tell more about somebody's health status by eye and watching them move a bit than you can by plotting them on a height/weight chart.

edit: Example: I'm 5'3 and 125 lbs. Apparently I'm "normal" anywhere between 105 lbs (which would be unhealthily thin with my build, I'd look like I was dying and likely wouldn't feel much better than if I were) and 140 lbs (at this weight I was suffering health problems and had a hard time being active.) I'd have to be 170 lbs to be considered "obese," which is almost half again my healthy natural size, and even more than I weighed at the tail end of my pregnancy. The BMI is much less useful than observation and common sense.

[neweurope]

16. Oh hell, I seem to be "morbidly obese".

Now I'm not the fattest person on earth but it's true that I wish I were slimmer. But the people they call "obese" there seem absolutely normal to me... what kind of crap ist that?!


------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Ellen Forradalom]

17. How dreary the world would be

if everyone were 'normal.'

[One_Life_To_Give]

18. Labels fit my observations in France

Although I think the real purpose should be as a tool. To approximately identify range of health risks by BMI groupings.

[Tektonik]

19. BMI ratings are messed up

at 6'6" one has to be 160-215 lbs to be considered a normal weight

for most body frames, I'd think 160 lbs is way underweight at that height

[SacredCow]

21. BMI, perhaps, gets you in the ballpark of where you should be...

but it certainly isn't hard science or a complete picture.

At 5'10" I typically like to be in the 170 to 175 range (I'm 185 right now, but working on that). During a particularly stressful period in my life, I stopped eating and dropped to just under 160. According to the BMI calculations, that puts me about in the middle of "normal." Folks, I looked emaciated. Friends were telling me to go see a doctor because "something is just NOT right with you..."