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>> If I’m overweight by those standards, it makes me skeptical of articles like this, and sometimes I even question the validity of the entire obesity epidemic

>> If I’m overweight by those standards, it makes me skeptical of articles like this, and sometimes I even question the validity of the entire obesity epidemic Based on your description, you are not overweight. The most concerning part of your comment however is that you would jump to question the entire obesity epidemic? I mean seriously, just look around, particularly outside your own circles and where social deprestion exists in your town.

fingerlocks 4y ago
No I’m not overweight, that’s the point. But I could be statistically counted as being overweight when my weight is recorded at a doctor visit. I don’t have a particularly abnormal body, which leads me to believe there is a large margin of error when measuring the number of overweight people. “Looking around” and personally observing is wrought with bias. I’d prefer we use a more useful metric than BMI to get an accurate data on obesity.
- bscphil 4y ago
  > I don’t have a particularly abnormal body, which leads me to believe there is a large margin of error when measuring the number of overweight people The NYT looked at this and found that BMI is more likely to underestimate body fat than overestimate it. So while your experience is valid, when you look at the population as a whole, BMI tends to be a problem because it convinces unhealthy people that they're healthy rather than the other way around. (That said, it's split by gender. Men are slightly more likely to be healthy with "overweight" BMIs than vice versa, but women are significantly more likely to have excess body fat at a "healthy" BMI than vice versa.) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/summer-of-science-2015/latest/how-often-is-bmi-misleading https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/summer-of-sc...
vba616 4y ago
I'm over six feet tall, and the CDC BMI calculator says 140 lbs is a "Healthy Weight" for an adult of my height.
- rocket_surgeron 4y ago
  140lbs is at the extreme low end for healthy 72” males. And it is correct. It is extremely, very, no-good bad to have excess body fat and if you are a 72” tall male who is not physically active that is where you should be. Of course, for athletes, BMI is not relevant but those people are edge cases not worthy of discussion when you it comes to BMI. The fact that people think it is unreasonable shows how perceptions on weight have been warped over the last 20-40 years. At 6” tall and 140lbs you probably would have been the target audience for the “pack on some beefcake muscle with Joe Rock’s muscleman workout” ads in the back of comic books and magazines. But you would have been healthy. The median weight of a 72” tall college-aged male in the 1950s was 167lbs. Almost exactly in the middle of the “healthy” BMI range. https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43861419/PDF https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43861419/PDF
  - vba616 4y ago
    >And it is correct. With a fairly inactive lifestyle, I would still only be able to get to ~150 by losing all my body fat. 100%. The final ten pounds would have to come out of muscle, organ, or bone. It doesn't sound healthy. Also, I have been around 140 lbs as an adult, many years ago, and it did immediately precede my hospitalization, although it wasn't exactly due to an eating disorder. Official sources give 2% body fat as the minimum for men, but that also sounds a bit extreme. >The median weight of a 72” tall college-aged male in the 1950s was 167lbs. It's almost as though cigarettes and leaded gas had some positive effect...

fingerlocks 4y ago

No I’m not overweight, that’s the point. But I could be statistically counted as being overweight when my weight is recorded at a doctor visit. I don’t have a particularly abnormal body, which leads me to believe there is a large margin of error when measuring the number of overweight people. “Looking around” and personally observing is wrought with bias. I’d prefer we use a more useful metric than BMI to get an accurate data on obesity.

bscphil 4y ago
> I don’t have a particularly abnormal body, which leads me to believe there is a large margin of error when measuring the number of overweight people The NYT looked at this and found that BMI is more likely to underestimate body fat than overestimate it. So while your experience is valid, when you look at the population as a whole, BMI tends to be a problem because it convinces unhealthy people that they're healthy rather than the other way around. (That said, it's split by gender. Men are slightly more likely to be healthy with "overweight" BMIs than vice versa, but women are significantly more likely to have excess body fat at a "healthy" BMI than vice versa.) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/summer-of-science-2015/latest/how-often-is-bmi-misleading https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/summer-of-sc...

vba616 4y ago

I'm over six feet tall, and the CDC BMI calculator says 140 lbs is a "Healthy Weight" for an adult of my height.

rocket_surgeron 4y ago
140lbs is at the extreme low end for healthy 72” males. And it is correct. It is extremely, very, no-good bad to have excess body fat and if you are a 72” tall male who is not physically active that is where you should be. Of course, for athletes, BMI is not relevant but those people are edge cases not worthy of discussion when you it comes to BMI. The fact that people think it is unreasonable shows how perceptions on weight have been warped over the last 20-40 years. At 6” tall and 140lbs you probably would have been the target audience for the “pack on some beefcake muscle with Joe Rock’s muscleman workout” ads in the back of comic books and magazines. But you would have been healthy. The median weight of a 72” tall college-aged male in the 1950s was 167lbs. Almost exactly in the middle of the “healthy” BMI range. https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43861419/PDF https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43861419/PDF
- vba616 4y ago
  >And it is correct. With a fairly inactive lifestyle, I would still only be able to get to ~150 by losing all my body fat. 100%. The final ten pounds would have to come out of muscle, organ, or bone. It doesn't sound healthy. Also, I have been around 140 lbs as an adult, many years ago, and it did immediately precede my hospitalization, although it wasn't exactly due to an eating disorder. Official sources give 2% body fat as the minimum for men, but that also sounds a bit extreme. >The median weight of a 72” tall college-aged male in the 1950s was 167lbs. It's almost as though cigarettes and leaded gas had some positive effect...