To think that BMI is not racist?

[Leanandmean31]

www.google.com/amp/s/www.huffpost.com/entry/bmi-scale-racist-health_l_5f15a8a8c5b6d14c336a43b0/amp

This stuff is ridiculous. BMI is just a calculation of someone’s weight in relation to height. So what that it originated through measuring mainly white men? Some racial groups may have higher levels of obesity which probably are related to issues like poverty but that fact doesn’t mean that being obese is healthy as this article seems to suggest.

It also mentions Samoa as an example where people can be healthy at a higher weight. Rubbish. Diabetes is very prevalent among Pacific island populations precisely because obesity is so common so the notion that they are healthy at a higher weight is rubbish.

AIBU to think that bopo and fat activism is going too far when it’s creeping over into telling the population that being overweight is perfectly fine and doesn’t affect health?

Muscle does not weigh more than fat. An ounce of muscle and an ounce of fat weigh the same. Like the old "ton of lead, Ton of feathers thing"
They have different densities.
(Sidles out fatly having missed point of thread completely)

YABU, I think that's fairly obvious. Basing a very widespread measure of health on what white men's bodies tend towards is obviously racist and sexist.

Folk get harassed by doctors based on their BMI, it acts as an obstacle for accessing treatment because some doctors are absolutely obsessed with it, and because BMI is based on what white men tend towards, that means women and non-white people get the brunt of it. That's structural racism (and sexism). If you don't see that, then I'm not sure what to tell you really.

My BMI is beginning to edge towards the heavier end of ideal for the first time in my life... because my muscle mass is higher than it has ever been, along with greatly increased cardiovascular fitness, reduced blood pressure, etc. I only ever had an ideal BMI when I was not exercising and undereating....

Re swimmers, Rebecca Adlington, who has a very athletic build had a BMI of 22 when competing. Even the sports stars with a heavier frame tend not to be over 25 BMI. Rugby is a bit of an outlier but even there you’re talking barely overweight rather than obese other than a few cases where the person in question needs to be heavy (eg a prop) and actually is visibly fat.

So what that it originated through measuring mainly white men?

This is a problem when they are using it medically for men in ethnic groups who are not white and people who are women.

Michael Phelps is also a normal BMI. So is Usain Bolt. Both very powerfully built muscular guys.

OP, are you just going to ignore @flirtygirl?

What am I meant to respond to in her post? I know that there are outliers but there is also a huge obesity problem. It’s a crude measure but to suggest that the many many people who are obese (who are of all races) are actually healthy and the measure is racist is wrong imo. It is crude but it does give an indication of medical risk especially when you’re talking about those over 30 BMI.

It is a bit shit to base a measure that is made for everyone on just white men. Some ethnic groups have heightened health risks at much lower weights, for one thing.

Dress size means little too as all shops work from different measurements and some materials are more stretchy, like jeggings. I know someone who has an obese BMI but can wear New Look size 12 stretchy jeans. She is visibly overweight by about 3 stone and the fact that her clothes have a certain number on the label is neither here nor there.

you gals act like the white-black differences are massive... they aren't. Look here. Literally it's 0.5-1.0 on the BMI scale. Not 5 or 10 points difference. How the BMI category thresholds could be usefully changed is not a big difference.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=e5LYGzKUPlE&t=317s

This is a really interesting Ted talk about the (shocking) lack of research done on women’s bodies specifically when it comes to nutrition and exercise.

Most of the people saying there are problems with BMI are usually overweight!

But women have a lower rate of obesity than men so how are they disadvantaged by the BMI system? Men tend to have a higher muscle mass than women. I totally agree that more research needs to be done on women’s bodies but this article is saying that a system that is fairly accurate on the whole is totally flawed and should be scrapped because it doesn’t investigate why people are fat (supposedly due to fatphobia)

People can think what they like but if you are fat you are more likely to get covid 19 , be unhealthy and get a load of diseases so continue to con yourself that you are healthy and fat but not at my or tax payer expense.

Medicine he telly is massively flawed in that it often doesn't take into account race and sex differences.

I hope it is changing but I understand that most drug testing is done on males as they provide a more stable control as women's bodies change all the time due to our monthly cycle

So we have been taking medicines only tested on men for many many years which is pretty fucking disgusting when you think about it.

Most of the people saying there are problems with BMI are usually overweight!

True. Many of the people promoting the article on Instagram are visibly obese. By scrapping BMI it’s going to cause more damage, which the bopo movement is already doing. Yes, you can be somewhat healthy with a high BMI in that you don’t have diabetes or high BP but chances are that once you hit middle age things won’t look so rosy. You don’t see many older bopo activists. They’re all young and kidding themselves that their weight won’t have any adverse impacts. Diabetes is fucking horrible.

My mixed race sister, my friends are all overweight on BMi yet are size 6

Bollocks. Yes, if you're absolutely ripped it will show up some errors. But if it was overly complex it wouldn't be manageable.

There's plenty of research to show that across the population, a healthy to slightly overweight BMI correlates with lower mortality and better health outcomes (older people who are overweight do a bit better than those who are underweight, possibly due to having reserves for illness etc).
The people trying to convince everyone that health is ephemeral and unmeasurable aren't doing anyone any favours.

Doadeer I thought it was racist to say that black people are better runners than swimmers because of having higher muscles? I know you didn't exactly say that but your comment is sort of along those lines (I'm genuinely asking the thread and not accusing you of racism)

but this article is saying that a system that is fairly accurate on the whole is totally flawed and should be scrapped

But It's not fairly accurate on the whole, is it? Isn't the point that it misses a whole other groups of people? It's fairly accurate for those it's been conducted.

@MynameisHappind

Doadeer I thought it was racist to say that black people are better runners than swimmers because of having higher muscles? I know you didn't exactly say that but your comment is sort of along those lines (I'm genuinely asking the thread and not accusing you of racism)

Personally, I would call that a generalisation or stereotyping, not racism.

There is no biological basis for race whatsoever.

It is ludicrous that people still believe there is and the myths that come with such biological essentialism.

Also BMI is not supposed to be used for athletes and high level sports people.

@MynameisHappind
Doadeer I thought it was racist to say that black people are better runners than swimmers because of having higher muscles?

Racism stems from believing in the inferiority of Black people, that is just stereotyping.

But It's not fairly accurate on the whole, is it? Isn't the point that it misses a whole other groups of people? It's fairly accurate for those it's been conducted.

It is though. For the majority of people, be they black or white, male or female, the categories are fairly accurate, although there may be some evidence that black people can go up to a slightly higher BMI and still be healthy, just as Asian people need to keep their weight lower than BMI 23 to remain healthy. This article is quoting from sociologists and talking about social causes of obesity. Yes, someone might be obese due to growing up in poverty but that doesn’t make the health risks any lower.

People keep talking about these mythical size 6 people who have a BMI of 30 due to all their muscle but I have heard very few verifiable examples given. Someone like Usain Bolt has a very muscular build, must have trained constantly when competing yet still has a normal BMI. There are some sports where weight is an advantage like weight lifting or sumo wrestling but that doesn’t mean that it’s pure muscle, as these athletes tend to be visibly fat.

There is no biological basis for race whatsoever. It is ludicrous that people still believe there is and the myths that come with such biological essentialism.

There have been a lot of studies on it which would all disagree with that.