to think that I'm not overweight?

[CaraDeanna]

Went to midwife the other day. Was told my BMI is 25.3 and I'm overweight... I've NEVER felt overweight. I am fit, I ran a marathon last year in 3 hours, I walk an hour every day, go to the gym regularly, am a size 10, but my midwife is sure I am overweight based purely on my BMI. Is it really that accurate? AIBU to completely ignore this? Never felt fat in my life and am feeling pretty awful!

You ran a marathon in 3 hours?!

Wow.

If you are a size 10, there is no way you are overweight.

Muscle weighs heavier than fat. Athletes are often obese according to BMI. Ignore.

BMI is notoriously unreliable when it comes to people with a lot of muscle mass, as I'm sure you do! It's a very blunt instrument and I wouldn't set too much store by it.

Well technically you are overweight according to BMI and that’s the measure they use, so that’s why she’ll have said it. No need to feel crap though, as you said you’re fit and healthy. Its the official NHS measurement, so that’s what they use.

Ignore her. Most international rugby players are technically categorized as obese according to their BMI measurements.

BMI is a shockingly poor measure of healthy body weight. Especially if you have a good amount of muscle

By the way that’s exactly what my BMI was at the start of my second pregnancy (I was also a size 10). The midwife mentioned it at booking in then I never heard anything else about it. It won’t affect how they deal with your pregnancy.

While the whole 'muscle weighs more than fat' thing usually doesn't make much difference, I expect that if you're in a size 10 (a real size 10, not one from a shop with enormo-sizes) and can run a marathon in 3 hours, then you're probably significantly more muscular than the average woman.

You'll be getting a lot of information from midwives and health visitors which is, ahem, not the most accurate or tailored to the individual. Consider this an early start in your 'smile and nod' career.

BMI is a good guide for the average person on the street but it is not a good measure for those who are muscly. There's no way you are overweight if you are a size ten, just ignore.

3 hours 17 minutes to be precise? Did I give myself too much credit there?

Glad I'm not the only one who agrees this measurement is silly. Surely common sense comes in to play.

Muscle is denser than fat meaning if you're carrying a lot of muscle you can appear slimmer than a person who is the same height, weighs the same, but is proportionally carrying more fat.

BMI is a handy tool but it needs to be used with care as it's just a height to weight ratio. As PP have said, many athletes will have a BMI over 25. If you can run a marathon in 3hrs, ignore the BMI.

Why would that make you feel awful?

@itsbetterthanabox well it just wasn't nice having it put on my maternity notes that I was 'overweight' - I'd like to look back on them and not see this written there, especially if it is inaccurate!

How tall are you? Shorter people can sometimes be overweight or even obese as a size 10; if you had an athlete’s figure then the midwife wouldn’t have asked you to lose weight but would have just noted that your BMI was a bit high and so you shouldn’t gain any weight.

When i was waiting to be discharged from hospital after a cesarean i had to wait 3 extra chuffin hours because one midwife was "concerned" about my weight. If you are overweight you need to take the blood thinning injections for longer and, while my BMI was normal my actual weight was "quite high". I am 6ft tall, of course i weigh more than average. The doctor she summond to double check the prescription she had written out for me that morning was not at all happy with the midwife.....
Some people are a bit obsessed with the numbers rather than the patient in front of them I've found.

Glad I'm not the only one who agrees this measurement is silly. Surely common sense comes in to play

Well yes. But as that is the measurement she is told to use as part of her midwife training, she didn’t really have much choice. There is a space to record your BMI, and that’s what she did. However accurate or inaccurate the measure is, that’s what she has to use.

A high BMI, whether it comprises of fat or not, raises the risk of complications.

She couldn’t look at every single person and make a judgement call as to whether they’re overweight or not, could she?

I’m a marathoner and had ‘anorexic’ written on my maternity notes. Idiots. Seriously if you can run a 3:17 marathon you’re in good shape. Ignore them.

@DuchyDuke I'm 5ft7 so not short, but not super tall either. Quite muscular however!

If it makes you feel any better you don’t usually get to keep your maternity notes. They take them when you ‘check-in’ to have the baby and you don’t get them back. So you won’t be flicking through them nostalgically and seeing overweight written down.

Amazing marathon time though, seriously impressive stuff! Unless you’re very petite, probably less than 5ft, then there’s no way you’re overweight at a size 10 and it’s well known BMI doesn’t work for athletes so just ignore, stay healthy and enjoy your pregnancy

x-posted, a size 10 and 5ft7, definitely no way are you overweight!!

No you’re not but then BMI isn’t an accurate measurement.

As an aside muscle does not weigh more than fat - a pound is a pound. Muscle takes up less room though.

@SoyDora it wasn't a personal attack on the midwife. I am simply stating that it's odd to tell someone so healthy that they're overweight based on being over 24.5 by 0.8 points on a scale. It wasn't a nice feeling.