To think the NHS BMI is a load of s#!t

[babyarz]

I gave birth to my beautiful DS 4 months ago.

Although I am losing weight as ebf I thought it would be good - after Christmas - to cut down on the chocolates and eat healthier.

I am fitting into all my size 10 clothes pre pregnancy and thought I'd weigh myself today to see what I am. Once I did this I looked my bmi score at it states I'm overweight!!

I'm totally ready for being told I'm BU but at 5"3, 10st 5 and size 10 I honestly didn't think I'd be classified as overweight!

What's your thoughts?

Some people like their clothes tighter than others.

The thing with short women is that they can be around a size 6 at a healthy/normal weight (ie without being considered underweight). Shorter women hold weight differently.

I’m the same height as you and weigh about 52kg, but I’m probably younger than you and don’t have kids (yet!). NHS BMI puts me at a healthy weight.

I know that at 5ft tall, 8.4, I was an 8. BMI 24.5. So I could very easily be much less than a size 6 and still healthy. 5ft isn't exactly tiny either. Many people are smaller than that.

BMI was created from Dutch adult mens data. So I don't see how it's relevant to women. Ignore it!
Go with his you feel and what clothes you fit into.

And if you are bf your body hangs onto fat as like an insurance policy, just a small amount, but it certainly wasn't in the BMI research I guarantee you.

That OxfordUni BMI calculator makes OP more overweight than the classic BMI calculation did. Don't think OP will thank you for it.

I am grossly overweight once I hit 10st and I am 5'5"

Umm, no, you're really not.

@WakeMeUpWhenGoodOmenIsOn My waist measurement is 73cm (measured at the NHS suggested measurement point) or 70 cm (true waist). Even before my weight loss it was 78 and 75. Healthy as a horse, apart from the unexplained weight loss and the long term health condition....

Also, I can tell you that at 49 kg (the lower end of my "healthy" weight range) I would be skeletal, because I looked deathly ill at 52kg when I was diagnosed with a lifelong health condition--20 years and two children ago.

@Placebogirl but how tall are you though? And frankly you probably looked ‘deathly ill’ because you were ill, by virtue of having an untreated medical issue surely?

I’m the same height as the OP and when I weighed 48kg my body looked healthy - flat stomach, slim arms/face but still maintaining curves. Shorter women can be healthy (not underweight/‘deathly’/‘skeletal’) when weighing less than taller women. It’s just common sense - bone density, muscle and body mass weighs more than fat so shorter people have a lower weight range. At 52kg I have a body fat percentage of 20% which is nowhere near skeletal.

5'3" same as the OP. Why is it so hard to believe that a population measure works poorly for individuals, and that I know my body better than strangers on the Internet?

Right as stated before, you looked ill because, shock horror, you were ill.

Over the years I have weighed around 48-52kg and no medical professional has ever expressed concerns about my weight - your attributions of ‘deathly ill’ and ‘skeletal’ are offensive to naturally slim women frankly. It’s possible to weigh around 50kg and be healthy as a shorter woman.

I don’t think dress size equals much I’m a size 12-14 but have a normal bmi !

I’m the same height as you and was definitely overweight when I weighed the same as you earlier this year, even if I had not (quite) needed to buy bigger clothes. I’ve lost over a stone and feel much better for it - and am still wearing the same clothes, but they do fit better.

BUT, it is only 4 months since you gave birth and your body is still adjusting. I wasn’t worried at all at the same stage, having taken a “9 months up, 9 months down” attitide, and in fact it wasn’t until about 9 months later that I had gone back more or less to my pre birth weight, without any significant attempt to diet. So I wouldn’t worry too much at the moment.

This is the point though - 50kgs can look nice or skeletal on the same height woman. I'd look skeletal at 10st, but other 5ft7 women would still look healthy.

I usually stay well away from the MN weight threads on account of the general strain of contempt for the rotund, thinly (!) disguised as faux concern. Although, in fairness, they are often a source of grim amusement.

I am an extraordinarily fat person who, as it happens, disagrees that BMI is a load of bollocks. It seems to me a rather useful and usually very accurate guideline for a healthy weight, with a generous range to reflect differing builds and frames.

On this thread, however, as on many similar, we are told it is only the fatties who protest that BMI is cack. In fact, to take Talk1nPeace as just one example (nothing personal, Talk!), we have, as standard, the following startling comment: "I am grossly overweight once I hit 10st and I am 5'5"". In fact, those stats give a perfectly healthy BMI of 23.5. Certainly, that weight at that height could not be described by any reasonable person as "grossly overweight".

You cannot have it both ways, lads! BMI cannot be a perfectly adequate measure with which to admonish us fat fools but a load of old cobblers for the slender (and morally righteous).

A normal bmi is not the same thing as being healthy. You could have a normal bmi and still be malnourished, lacking in muscle tone, osteoporotic, carrying a dangerous amount of your fat around your internal organs and about to drop dead of a heart attack. Is that better, SoftDay?

You could also be deeply unattractive.

5”2 and 10st.

Size 12 on my bottom half because my thighs are giant; size 10 on top because I have zero boobs and zero belly.

Even at 9st I can barely get a size 10 on the bottom unless they’re super soft or stretchy jeans because my thighs just won’t shrink!

"A normal bmi is not the same thing as being healthy. "

It doesn't claim to be a healthy or not test, it's to see whether your weight is in the healthy range, that's all.

I’m 5ft 1 and 9st 8 and I’m a size 8 on top (small frame, my boobs aren’t that big) and 10 in the bottom (although I’ve put on a couple of pounds over Christmas so I must admit my jeans are a bit tighter.

According to the NHS calculator, my BMI is now in the overweight category. I’m not happy about this so I’m now on a mission to lose 7 pounds! If the BMI scale can shock people into action, then it’s good for something!

I think everyone knows that, Gwenhwyfar - although it is rather unfortunate to describe it as weight in the "healthy range" given that it has bugger all to do with being healthy. Not being able to use your weight to help identify your diet and exercise related problems would be more accurate for the malnourished, osteoporotic person with low muscle tone and a high percentage of visceral fat!

BMI is a perfectly good measure and takes into account height and weight.
If you prefer a more accrue one then waist measurement is even better (actual measurement rather than waist clothes size).
The UK has an obesity crisis which isn’t funny. Stroke, heart disease, cancer, diabetes are all much much more common in overweight people.
The most isaccurate measurement these days is dress size. I am a size or two smaller than 20 years ago, although I am heavier! Vanity sizing isn’t helping anyone.

BMI is a rough way of assessing levels of obesity. It doesn't work for everyone, but for most of the population it gives a reasonable indication.

And yes - at 5 foot 3 and over ten stone you are probably overweight.