3 ms·

Your suggestion does not appear to be valid for the UK. "Data on overweight and obesity among adults are mainly from the Health Survey for England (HSE). Resul

by vixen99 10y ago

Your suggestion does not appear to be valid for the UK. "Data on overweight and obesity among adults are mainly from the Health Survey for England (HSE). Results for 2014 showed that 61.7% of adults were overweight or obese (65.3% of men and 58.1% of women). The prevalence of obesity is similar among men and women, but men are more likely to be overweight." Projection from WHO: "74% of men and 64% of women in UK to be overweight by 2030" https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/05/obesity-crisis-projections-uk-2030-men-women https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/05/obesity-cris...

chongli 10y ago
This is using BMI. BMI does not distinguish between body fat and muscle mass, causing it to be exceptionally inaccurate for men with a lot of muscle mass.
- smcl 10y ago
  That's true, but if you take a walk around any random city in the UK you'll encounter far more fat people than muscly people. It's not even close. And I'm not talking about Mr-Universe-Era Arnie vs technically-but-not-terribly overweight, I mean just vaguely in shape vs visibly overweight
  - neverminder 10y ago
    This may be anecdotal, but in my gym (Central London) most of the guys are skinny and most of the women are fat. I do notice the same in the street as well, so personally it's really hard to believe that there's actually more obese men in UK than women. Maybe city demographics is just different.
  - Someone 10y ago
    Yes, but if only one in ten of the men reported as overweight on BMI isn't overweight but muscular (and none of the women are), that explains almost all the difference between 65.3 and 58.1 percent.
- douche 10y ago
  BMI is ridiculous because it also doesn't take into account body frame. There's a huge amount of difference between the amount of weight that someone with a 50" chest should carry and what someone with a 35" chest should carry. I think according to BMI, I'm supposed to weigh like 180 pounds as a healthy weight. The lightest I have ever been was 210, after I spent an entire summer hiking 10-15 miles a day through the White Mountains, packing fifty pounds of tools, building trails and working with a crew that was half-vegan, so we subsisted on starvation rations.
- DanBC 10y ago
  The vast majority of people don't exercise anywhere near enough for this flaw in BMI to be a problem.

by vixen99 10y ago

chongli 10y ago

This is using BMI. BMI does not distinguish between body fat and muscle mass, causing it to be exceptionally inaccurate for men with a lot of muscle mass.

smcl 10y ago
That's true, but if you take a walk around any random city in the UK you'll encounter far more fat people than muscly people. It's not even close. And I'm not talking about Mr-Universe-Era Arnie vs technically-but-not-terribly overweight, I mean just vaguely in shape vs visibly overweight
- neverminder 10y ago
  This may be anecdotal, but in my gym (Central London) most of the guys are skinny and most of the women are fat. I do notice the same in the street as well, so personally it's really hard to believe that there's actually more obese men in UK than women. Maybe city demographics is just different.
- Someone 10y ago
  Yes, but if only one in ten of the men reported as overweight on BMI isn't overweight but muscular (and none of the women are), that explains almost all the difference between 65.3 and 58.1 percent.
douche 10y ago
BMI is ridiculous because it also doesn't take into account body frame. There's a huge amount of difference between the amount of weight that someone with a 50" chest should carry and what someone with a 35" chest should carry. I think according to BMI, I'm supposed to weigh like 180 pounds as a healthy weight. The lightest I have ever been was 210, after I spent an entire summer hiking 10-15 miles a day through the White Mountains, packing fifty pounds of tools, building trails and working with a crew that was half-vegan, so we subsisted on starvation rations.
DanBC 10y ago
The vast majority of people don't exercise anywhere near enough for this flaw in BMI to be a problem.