The string test. Aibu to think this is a pretty clear way to show you're overweight?

[africanprincessinscotland]

I caught a bit of a BBC programme earlier where they were doing the string test. I've never heard of it before, but it makes perfect sense. If your waist measurement is more than half your height, you are overweight. And because it's around your waist, it indicates how much visceral fat you have. That's the really bad type.

So, you get a piece of string, cut it to the length of your height (heel to head), fold it in half and put it around your waist. If it doesn't meet, you're overweight. Very simple.

I know that BMI is controversial, but with this, you can't really argue against it, can you? Unless you're pregnant!

How tightly are you supposed to pull the string OP?
I'm 5 ft 6 - so 66 inches divided by 2 is 33. Waist is 31 inches of the string is not digging in, though I can pull it in to 26 inches. I'm aged 40 and a size 8 on my top half and a 10 on my bottom half. I weigh just under 10 stone. If I put weight on, it goes on my inner thighs first! Where you carry weight is genetic mainly I think.

Limoncello I pulled mine quite tightly but I don't know as I only saw a snippet (but then Googled it roger more details). For those of you saying why use string; you can of course use a tape measure. But to make it as simple and user friendly as possible, you can do this with anything string like (I used curling ribbon at first, then found my tape measure), and you don't need numbers as you measure yourself heel-head then fold it in
half. It just a very simple way of identifying that you may be at risk because of where you carry your weight.

Mine is 33 inches. I'm a 12 so that's not true

Yep. Mine is 34 inches, and I'm a 14 on top (10-12 on bottom). Mind you, I am 5'11" and have shoulders like a SuperBowl champ, so that might be screwing the measurements some.

It's easier with a tape measure though if you don't have anyone to help measure you toe to head - and presumably most people know how tall they are anyway

@Bluntness100 no I'm in the UK. It might be 32 now. I'm currently wearing size 12 jeans

Don’t underestimate the number of people who can’t translate their height in feet into inches and then divide by two.

I’m not taking the piss - it’s easy to forget from MN-land there’s a fair number of people out there who are properly innumerate.

I think for me this is accurate. My waist just fits with my height with 1/2 an inch to spare.

My tummy is the place I gain weight, my legs, bum and arms are slim but my tummy has some fatty bits. I’m not technically overweight but I do feel better when I’m slimmer and I would be happier if I shifted 1/2 a stone to a stone.

I am at the very top of my healthy BMI and gaining a couple of lbs pushes me into the overweight catagory. But my boobs are large (always have been even when I was much slimmer) and weigh a fair bit so I do think they skew my BMI results a little.

So with waist test I’m just ok and no more which is the same results as my BMI.

Wish I could figure out my body type, is there such a thing as a top heavy apple? I know I’m not an hourglass, my hips are much smaller than my boobs.

I'm an hourglass apple if that makes sense?

When - like now - I'm overweight, my fat inclines more to my belly than my hips, but I still tend to keep a defined waist, plus big boobs. It all sits at the front of my stomach and low (I have lost twenty pounds so far this year and have a defined top ab/waist and belly underneath. Looks ridiculous!)

I'm obese but as I have a small waist pass this test.

I have passed that test but I’m right on the edge of a healthy weight. I need to lose a good stone if not stone and a half.

EventNotInData Mon 30-Apr-18 16:12:32

"Don’t underestimate the number of people who can’t translate their height in feet into inches and then divide by two.

I’m not taking the piss - it’s easy to forget from MN-land there’s a fair number of people out there who are properly innumerate"

Well there is obviously a long way to go before dyscalculics are treated with the same consideration dyslexics are.

Yes im very interested to know why there havent been any prime time TV programmes about lipodema Could it be because it affects women.

HelenaDove dyscalculia and dyslexia are specific learning disabilities. Not everyone who is not good at spelling / reading or arithmetic have these. The point that poster was making is that there a lot of people out there who would find the tape measure Denise your height in half task difficult. The string doesn't require that.

oh yes i agree.

Helena lymphodema is a specific medical condition. It's pretty unpleasant, but most people with chunky arms and legs will not have it. They'll just carry their fat there. I work in healthcare and have worked with lots of people over the years with lymphodema. I know lots of people who carry a lot of fat on their limbs, but not because they have a specific condition. A quick look at the nhs website shows about 200,000 people in the uk have it. Men and women. So I suppose it's just one of many conditions that won't warrant a tv show. I looked that up because I was curious, not just so I can say "you're wrong", by the way!

Bugger. I'm bang in the middle of the healthy BMI range and come out an inch over this measure at belly button height.

Just done the belly button test and still under half my height. I’m at the top of th3 healthy BMI range.

Wouldn't it be simpler just to measure your waist with a tape measure, multiply it by two and see if it exceeded your height? I don't see the need to cut up pieces of string!

i have lipodema so did my Gran.

"I'm definitely overweight, but this test doesn't prove it."

The test is not prove you're overweight. You've misunderstood what it is.

"My BMI indicates I'm just inside the overweight category, but I take a UK size 12 in everything. Is 12 now considered to be plus size, cos if it is, the world's surely gone mad!"

Size inflation. Lots of shorter people will be overweight at a size 12. Saying so incurs the wrath of many Mumsnetters who prefer to be in denial.
I've been able to fit into a 10 at Next with a 32 inch waist when I should have been in a 16 according to the measurements of when I was young (24-8, 26-10, 28-12, 30-14, 32-16). (Marilyn Monroe had a 22 inch waist).

Look if the NHS and others want to use BMI but common sense seems to go out the window when it comes to loose skin.

The man in my link is being refused an op on his loose skin because his BMI isnt low enough for the op They want him to lose 3 more stone which is exactly what the loose skin weighs.

Kafkesque

I dont have a lot of faith in them using BMI when its being abused used like this.

Size inflation. Lots of shorter people will be overweight at a size 12. Saying so incurs the wrath of many Mumsnetters who prefer to be in denial

That's because the usual term for it was 'vanity sizing' which was rampant in the 90s, after deregulation, which broke the link to standardisation based on population size. It was openly and avowedly a marketing trick as people bought more from places where they could fit into a smaller size. But the thought pattern, which gave sizes a meaning, somehow stayed the same.

As pp said above, if you are average height (5'4/5'5) and just fail the string test, chances are (by size charts of a few major retailers) a 14. If you are shorter, you can be obese, by this measurement method, in a smaller size.

Meditrina - I don't think the reason people on MN don't like to hear about size inflation is that I might have used the term size inflation rather than vanity sizing. I use the term vanity sizing as well. They don't like to hear about the principle of it, it's not the wording.

I am 5'7" with a 28 inch waist and 39 inch hips, so with a BMI of 21.6 and a waist to hip ratio of 0.72 (low risk of diabetes) I sound fabulous, but I'm not. I'm a pear shape (small boobs) with heavy thighs.

I think a combination of these three measurements is a good, but not definitive guide about weight. Surely you just need to use your eyes.

Although, in many weight loss stories I read about in magazines it is usually the shock of seeing themselves in holiday photos that triggers off the diet. It makes me wonder if these people don't have mirrors in their homes or whether they are just in denial, or even they don't see how they look in comparison to other people until they see the holiday photos.