> I'm 5'10" 170#. That's a BMI of 24. I’m 5’11” and 176#... of lean body mass per the last time I was in a dunk tank pre-covid. I am a desk jockey, I haven’t l

> I'm 5'10" 170#. That's a BMI of 24. I’m 5’11” and 176#... of lean body mass per the last time I was in a dunk tank pre-covid. I am a desk jockey, I haven’t lifted a weight in over two decades, although I do cardio and body-weight exercises (push ups, pull ups, burpees, etc.). Needless to say, I’m an outlier while not being a gym rat, body builder, or construction worker. I don’t think people like me are rare enough such that concerns over BMI on an individual basis can or should be hand waved off. Every time I see a new doctor, they tell me I’m obese, I might be diabetic (my numbers are very normal), and how we might want to talk about that. I show them my dunk tank numbers, my myfitnesspal records of my diet, and my blood work, and they always just say “carry on”. I share this story to show that even medical professionals rely on BMI to an irresponsible level sometimes. I’m able to come prepared to the doctors because I understand the limits of BMI. I have several friends of similar build who have freaked out and sometimes made very stupid lifestyle changes (vastly undereating given their activity level) due to sloppy advice from doctors based on BMI. I’ve seen this cut the other way, too, with folks who have perfect looking BMIs but low lean body mass and are very unhealthy. I stand by my stance that BMI is good for measuring populations of people, but it’s a very crude tool on an individual basis. I hope my anecdote shows how this can happen even for a relatively normal person.