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What BMI do you consider to be fat, slim or skinny?

130 replies

waschunky · 16/12/2024 23:40

Nc for this. Inspired by a family chat about size and what is considered the ideal now compared to when I was a teen in the 90s. Teenage Dd was saying how big bums and very chunky thighs are the ideal whereas I'm mentally in the idealised thigh gap era and an arse that's not got its own postcode.

It's obvious from reading threads on here that what is considered obese, overweight, slim, skinny, underweight varies and doesn't necessarily follow the BMI scale. What classes as fat now? When I was a teen fat was probably actually obese and now those obese are often deemed a little chunky or stocky. Normal bmi is seen as skinny by some. I never hear the word plump anymore. Pleasantly plump was how my sister referred to herself and she was at the top end of a healthy bmi maybe half a stone over the top end.

I'm not sure if I could accurately assess someone's size and weight against clinical parameters. There was a programme on tv yonks ago where participants were asked to say which outline they thought was theirs and they always chose the one that was one to two sizes bigger.

Views are probably skewed by the media but to me obese is still very fat, overweight is a little chunky, normal weight I've no idea, slim would be thigh gap, collar bones and cheek bones visible, skinny would be something I'll never be 😁 and probably in my mind is actually clinically underweight.

OP posts:
waschunky · 17/12/2024 00:01

@SoYouThinkYouCanPrance she was asking me what the beauty ideals were when I was her age and comparing them to now.Nothing dysfunctional about it, just general chat.

OP posts:
Thatcastlethere · 16/12/2024 23:57

BMI means nothing regarding how visually fat someone appears..
It can mean little about health as well..
Many professional athletes have BMIs which would class them as obese..

It really depends how much muscle you have and your body shape and frame.

I've pretty much always been overweight according to BMI
Now pushing 40 with 3 kids you'd definitely notice I was overweight.
But in my early 20s I was a UK size 8 and 5ft 7.. but my BMI still had me as slightly overweight. When my BMI was 30 it was classed as obese but I was a UK size 12.

It can really vary due to your body shape. I'm pear shaped. Big thighs but small waist and upper body.
I know people who have healthy BMI but appear chubby... some people have to keep themselves right on the lower end of healthy range in order to appear slender.

Really BMI isn't a great measure of anything either visual or internal health wise. Wish they'd come up with something better and more individually tailored.

ReggaetonLente · 16/12/2024 23:50

I’m officially overweight, I think my BMI is 25.3 or something. But I don’t feel fat. I’m a size 12, 5’10, fit and healthy and while I’ve got a bit of jiggle I don’t have a spare tyre or anything. I think I look ok. Like a normal 30something mum of 2.

SoYouThinkYouCanPrance · 16/12/2024 23:45

Honestly, the very idea of having this conversation with my teenager seems a bit dysfunctional to me.

Apart from anything else, is it not just exhausting to be so preoccupied with the nuances of weight and scrutinising other peoples’ bodies? Why would you want to do that?

MaMoosie · 16/12/2024 23:42

As a clinician, we really don’t take a lot of notice of BMI. It’s just to tick a box really. It doesn’t account for different body types and was designed in the 50’s and hasn’t been updated. My BMI for example is overweight. However, I am built like a fucking shed, not fat.