to think BMIs are ridiculous?!

[HairTodayBlondeTomorrow]

I'm 5 foot 4 and after my kids ended up at 13st 9lbs,

I'm now down to 12 stone.

When I got married I was 11 stone and was in a size 12 dress and I think I looked lovely.

I'd like to get back to 11 stone. but according to the NHS at 11 stone and still be in the 'overweight' catagory.

Infact at 10 stone 7 i would be classes as over weight?

Surely it can be healthy to pus that on people?

I mean if i was 10 stone 5lbs i would be jussssst out of the overweight category.

And to be directly in the middle of the healthy range I need to be 9 stone?!

Have I just been over weight too long to remember what healthy is or does anyone else feel BMI is unrealistic?

BMI is ridiculous. TOTES agree :o

BMIs are ridiculous.

Most of the England rugby team would be classed as obese - muscle weighs more than fat which puts them at a bit of a disadvantage!

If you are happy and comfy, active and eat sensibly - I think most people know when they need to lose weight

MY BMI is ridiculous!!

I'd like to get down to 11 stone, but feel a bit demoralised that my GP would still clss me as a fat-ass

I see where you're coming from but it might help to think where BMI originated from. Funnily enough it's the insurance industry, and the "overweight" category is the point at which being any heavier confers a significant chance of health problems. Naturally, it's not useful for very well-muscled people, but it's a medical model that is accurate across the population of normal folk!

I am 5'5 and got down to 10 stone from 14.4.

I am now about 10.5 and on the upper end of 'normal'. As much as i didn't admit it before, i think this is the normal weight range i should be in. I was also 12 stone when i got married and felt fab, but i feel much better now and in no way 'too light'.

Sadly i think we have all become a bit skewed in our thinking

I disagree. At the same height as you, my weight had crept up to 11st before my current pregnancy and I was eating too much and not exercising enough. I was chubby (dread being really overweight after baby arrives - my own fault ).

At 10st 4lbs I'm healthy but could still stand to lose more.

in medical terms normal scopes are normal for 90% of the population

I find it exasperating when people bring up international standard athletes, for the VAST MAJORITY of normal people its an okay gauge

I'm exactly the same height as the OP and my BMI allows an ENOURMOUS range, with my height I can range from a size 8-10 to a small 14, its not that restrictive - that allows for a LOT of individual variation, I am too big when I pop over the green part, I am too small if I drop off the bottom

I think now that "average" and "normal" has changed we often compare ourselves to our peers to judge our weight, but nowadays that doesn't work unfortunately as so many people are overweight and you can be one of the smallest in your peer groups or family and still be over weight

BMI is a blunt tool, sure. BUT most of us don't have athletes' builds (super muscular etc) and it does give a rough guide to weight appropiate to height. Mine is 25 and I know I could/should be a bit slimmer. If I got any heavier I'd be a 16 on top and a 14 trousers/skirts size which would be sliding into fat territory.

According to BMI I should weigh under 10 stone. Impossible with my build.

Because that's the problem with BMI, it doesn't take into account bone structure.

BMI is not the be all and end all but is helpful. You need to have cut offs for deciding what is normal and what gives increased risk of health problems. Obviously you need to take into consideration how a person is built (i.e. the England rugby team) but most of us aren't in the English rugby team, and most people are overweight and running the risk of health problems as a result.

They are not ridiculous, they are just a simple screening tool. They aren't meant to be definitive measures by themselves.

BMI is very good for the average person and they should take note of it and diet accordingly and unless you are super athletic exercising every day of the week.

People always throw around phrases like the England rugby team yadda yadda but that is a false argument as BMI is not a guide to be used for super athletic people. However Michael Phelps still manages to have a BMI less than 25

I think it DOES take into account different builds, that's why there is such an enourmous range for each height!

yabvu. Most overweight people are not overweight due to being superfit and muscly.

I am FAR too skinny down at the bottom of my healthy range, and people worry, because it takes into account people my height with much narrower builds then mine

Unless you are a professional body builder or rugby player (which is a fairly tiny percentage of the population) then BMI is realistic.

I think with size zero being paraded in magazines and the changes in clothes sizing over the years (I am definitely not able to fit the size 12 skirts I owned pre DC but the newer ones fit with ease!) people in general have forgotten (or never known) what a "healthy weight for your height" looks like.

For the standard 5'4" person, a healthy weight is 60kg or 9.5 stone.

what I'm trying to say, is unless you are super fit or have a very abnormal build etc, your ACTUAL healthy weight is a much narrower range within the normal BMI range for your height IMO

Bottom line = it's about risk of health problems associated with overweight an obesity; has NOTHING to do with what you look like.

According to the BBC webiste, if everyone in the world shared my BMI, the world's population would be 54 million stones heavier!

Try it here

"people in general have forgotten (or never known) what a "healthy weight for your height" looks like"

absolutely agree, and most worryingly they have forgotten what a healthy weight for children looks like! we need things like the BMI as where you are in terms of percentile in relation to your community is not a useful way to judge what weight you should be to optimise health

You know, to be perfectly honest OP, I've lived out of the UK for a long time now, and whenever I come back I'm shocked at just how much more most people in society weigh now than 20 years ago (on average). So it's entirely possible that when you look around the people you know, you don't look like you weigh more than everyone else. British society seems to have got used to being a few stone heavier nowadays, it's the norm rather than the exception. And rather than really getting to grips with the complex underlying issues, people are trying to say that, no they're not really overweight at all, BMI is rubbish simply because they don't like the results, muscle weighs more than fat, etc.

I suspect the truth is, that with your height and weight, yes you are probably overweight, but not horrendously, seriously health-threateningly so. Maybe that situation is OK for you, maybe you feel best psychologically and physically at that weight, but at least be honest to yourself and not try to blame the measuring system (which is not perfect, but provides a good estimate).

For your height, 9 and a half stones sounds about right.

However, my DM is 5foot and has always weighed about 11stone. She is 81 and pretty healthy for her age.

YABU.

As the population in general are getting bigger people who are actually overweight don't realise they are as there are so many bigger people around them.

I agree with Iteotwawki and cherie. It is scary what is happening to our population.

BMIs can be helpful but you need to look at yourself too. My DH has the build of rugby player. Even when physically very fit and really at the lower limit of his natural weight he is borderline over weight according to BMI. The BMI wants him to be about 12 stone which he will never get to in a million years.

I'm 5ft 4 and at the moment am 10 stone 4. I have a small frame and feel a lot more healthy at around 9 stone which is what I was pre DCs.