Is BMI a bunch of bull?

[stuka1939]

My good friends brother is 5'10" and 230 lbs. According to the BMI, he is OBESE.

However, he does not look fat at all, but DIESEL. The kid is jacked and looks rock solid. He does not look like a slob at all.

 

[KontrollerX]

Did his BMI ever get calculated by a special kind of skin clamp or are you just going by entering his weight into an online BMI calculator?

 

[Flyer]

Search BMI limitations on google. There are alot of reasons why it's bias to people with high muscle density.

 

[stuka1939]

Search BMI limitations on google. There are alot of reasons why it's bias to people with high muscle density.

Which means there are less fat ugly people walking around the streets of America then we think.

 

[Quagmire911]

Yes BMI sucks ass. Doesn't take body composition into account at all.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

My good friends brother is 5'10" and 230 lbs. According to the BMI, he is OBESE.

However, he does not look fat at all, but DIESEL. The kid is jacked and looks rock solid. He does not look like a slob at all.

What's your hip to waist ratio in relationship to your BMI, also is your waist size 35" or larger? People always mistakenly just do the basic (old) calculation without taking into account that when the formula was originally created, people with a BMI over 25 were absolutely fat as compared to the average population which fell somewhere around 22.

Diets didn't consist of highly processed foods like today and the portions were much smaller. In the changing times the normal BMI for Americans has jumped over 25. Someone may only be 150lbs but what if they were over 20% fat? That's 7-10lbs more fat than what's considered a healthy. That may not seem like a lot and would hardly be noticeable if you are over 200lbs with a gut, but if you had been a svelte 140 and jumped up 10lbs, you'd readily see it.

In a nutshell, if you're athletic, you definitely need to take your waist to hip ratio. More times than not, the truly fit athlete wouldn't have a waist size over 35 either. If they did, their waist to hip ratio would show that they were proportioned in either a healthy or unhealthy manner.

BMI is pretty accurate if you are a learn how to use it.

 

[Fuglydude]

Like these guys are saying BMI doesn't take into account body composition. Check out FFMI (fat free mass index):

http://www.naturalphysiques.com/tools.php?itemid=28

 

[Alle_Gory]

Did his BMI ever get calculated by a special kind of skin clamp or are you just going by entering his weight into an online BMI calculator?

BMI uses weight and height.

What you are referring to is bodyfat composition which can be calculated through electrical impedance, water displacement, clamps, or measuring strips and some calculations.


BMI sucks. You can be 220lbs and ripped to the bone, but the BMI sys you are obese, because you are heavier than you should be at that height. It's only accurate for Joe Sedentary Average.

 

[decades]

He might be doing HGH.