To ask if someone is describe as

[Kissandjust]

Above average bmi. Would you take this to mean obese or just overweight?

@Kissandjust

Above average bmi. Would you take this to mean obese or just overweight?

It's a relative term. Anything above average could be any amount of percentage points.

It's too vague.

The average adult is already overweight, so I suppose above average BMI could someone still in the overweight category but it's likely to be a euphemism for someone who is obese.

It’s a term used in a medical report

Above average would mean exactly that - above average. I'd assume the average based on your age and sex. Likely to be the high end of overweight or obese. The average person in the UK is on the high end of overweight so you could still be overweight and be below average BMI.

Higher than normal. If it’s been said about you, simply review the chart and see if your overweight or obese.

I don’t know actually, that’s a bit confusing - I think the average person is somewhat overweight these days? But you’d think what they really mean is above a healthy weight. What everyone else is is surely not relevant to the person who the report is about. Sounds like a crap report.

I would probably think overweight. In the hospital where I work we would generally use "very high BMI" for obese. It's a vague term so could mean any number really though. If it's referring to yourself then I'm sure you can weigh yourself to see what category you fall into?

I would think obese as the average BMI in the U.K. is overweight.

Its a polite way of saying overweight

Well how much does the person weigh?

Surely they know?

As someone who is obese according to BMI but actually has a low body fat percentage I would hope they realised how rubbish BMI actually is as a measure.

@SimonJT

As someone who is obese according to BMI but actually has a low body fat percentage I would hope they realised how rubbish BMI actually is as a measure.

Don't tell me...you play rugby!

It is ambiguous, I would take it to mean above average range, i.e. overweight.
Above average point could still be within healthy weight range.

@Ginuwine Yep, my ethnicity also means a BMI of 23 would put me in the overweight category rather than 25, a BMI of 28 would also put my weight in the obese category rather than 25.

I have a BMI of 28.9.

Sorry, that last figure about the obese range should be 28.

It just means overweight surely? Like a bmi of greater than 25 but its not more specific than that

I'm guessing this is a referral letter from Dr to Dr? Keeping it polite because the person will also get a copy. It's the kind of thing I would have written.

@Kissandjust

It’s a term used in a medical report

I’d take that to mean heavy but not necessarily fat. Muscular.

Sorry, I misread that that as a sports medical for some reason. Yep, it means overweight

@OrangeSharked

It just means overweight surely? Like a bmi of greater than 25 but its not more specific than that

I’d think this.

It means overweight..

Overweight, bordering on obese.

As PPs have said, average BMI these days is generally overweight.

Does the reader of the letter not have any context? If you're simply asking what the words mean that you can't make any judgement because it's just a factual statement that the number is higher than the average.

Could be either.

I'm sure you know what they actually mean.

For transparency, I've been delicately described as surprisingly obese, which means they could see I was a bit of a heffer, but they didn't expect me to weigh as much as I did because underneath the lard is a fuckton of muscle.