Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Slim BMI

110 replies

fingersdoublecrossed · 04/02/2022 11:15

Purely posting here for traffic.

At about which BMI would you consider yourself or others to be 'slim'?

OP posts:
AuntieStella · 04/02/2022 17:30

Anywhere in the healthy range, varying a bit depending on your frame

I look slim at about 22, but when at my full-on racing form (distance runner) it's usually around 20

tackling · 04/02/2022 17:32

BMI 18 or lower.

Tergeo · 04/02/2022 17:36

Definitely. I'm BMI 24 and a size 14. I'm within the healthy range but literally no one would call me slim! Healthy yes but not slim. I'm 5 ft 10.

I'm the same height, size and bmi. To be slim I would need to be around bmi 22. Well that's what I'm aiming for at the moment.

Same! BMI 23 and size 12-14, definitely not slim. DH and to be fair, the GP has pointed out I could do with losing a bit.

AuntieStella · 04/02/2022 17:37

Which athletes were you thinking of?

Different poster chipping in here, but its be weighlifters, the heavyweight categories in martial arts, throwers in athletics field events. Also rugby players (esp front row)

Builders and people in the Armed Forces ofthen have high BMI because of very high muscle mass. It doesn't mean BMI as a screening is useless. It just means that it is (as it has always purported to be) a screening tool, which will show up who is an unusual weight for their height. Then you can check if the person is a dedicated sportsperson in a muscly sort of sport or has a very physical job, in which case it'll be OK

All screening tools work like that

EmbarrassingHadrosaurus · 04/02/2022 17:40

@fingersdoublecrossed

Purely posting here for traffic.

At about which BMI would you consider yourself or others to be 'slim'?

It depends on people's body compositions and sometimes their ethnicity.

I've been morbidly obese by body composition at a BMI of 22.

Some S E Asian people are assessed as crossing the threshold to overweight at BMI 23.

BMI is a good rough guide but you can predict little by it without a lot of additional information.

Dutchesss · 04/02/2022 17:40

My BMI is 22 and I'm size 8-10. I think I look slim. Blush

ViceLikeBlip · 04/02/2022 17:44

My bmi is 21.5 and I'm very squidgy round the edges. But of course there are plenty of people heavier but more toned. Bmi is a very crude tool- it was never really designed to be taken quite so seriously.

littlepeas · 04/02/2022 17:45

People saying under 20 are being goady.

WinnieMac · 04/02/2022 17:48

Mine is between 18 and 19 and I am slim - but I am very small all round and would look like a whale if my BMI were 23, for instance. My DD is a completely different build and would look seriously ill and undernourished with a BMI of 23.

WinnieMac · 04/02/2022 17:49

@littlepeas

People saying under 20 are being goady.
Not necessarily. Something can be true without it being goady!
Svara · 04/02/2022 17:51

@littlepeas

People saying under 20 are being goady.
Could they be talking about themselves? I said 18.5 to 22 in general but I have a small build myself and look healthy at a bmi of 22 or less, slim around 18.5 to 20.
RicStar · 04/02/2022 17:52

I think its interesting I am short 5"3, my bmi is around 26 (would love it to be less but its pretty much always been here or higher)- I think people would say I was normal - definitely not slim but I run and walk a lot and am quite toned wear a size 12 mostly, dsis is 5'10 also a size 12 and much heavier than me, and carries weight differently but her BMI is much lower than mine but I dont think she is perceived as slim either -also normal . So what I am saying is I don't think slim appearance and BMI are that correlated. I would agree dress size is probably a better indicator.

Boood · 04/02/2022 17:57

Either this thread has brought out all the competitively underweight posters, or my definition of “slim” is different from everyone else’s. To me, “slim” is a size 10-12- healthy, not synonymous with “skinny” or “tiny”. A realistic ideal, not unattainable for the majority over 25.

FurbleSocks · 04/02/2022 18:02

@Tergeo

Definitely. I'm BMI 24 and a size 14. I'm within the healthy range but literally no one would call me slim! Healthy yes but not slim. I'm 5 ft 10.

I'm the same height, size and bmi. To be slim I would need to be around bmi 22. Well that's what I'm aiming for at the moment.

Same! BMI 23 and size 12-14, definitely not slim. DH and to be fair, the GP has pointed out I could do with losing a bit.

I'm going for 21 just so I can have a fabulous time when we go on holiday and go up to 22!
Zazdar · 04/02/2022 18:02

Either this thread has brought out all the competitively underweight posters, or my definition of “slim” is different from everyone else’s. To me, “slim” is a size 10-12

It's certainly different to mine. I was a size 10-12 and I was very definitely podgy.

It may not be the same for others.

PurpleDaisies · 04/02/2022 18:03

@littlepeas

People saying under 20 are being goady.
How do you figure that out?

My bmi is 20. I still have wobbly bits. I think I’m slim but I can see how someone might disagree if they looked at my stomach and thighs.

Really I think the problem with the question is how you are supposed to know someone’s bmi just by looking at them. You can look at someone and see if they are slim but they don’t usually advertise their bmi.

LapinR0se · 04/02/2022 18:05

My BMI is 19.5 which is “normal” according to the CDC website. So I assume under 18 is slim.

Darbs76 · 04/02/2022 18:05

I’m 23 and people say I’m slim but I carry all my weight on my stomach and I’m towards the upper of my ideal weight - so I’d say 21 or under

Zazdar · 04/02/2022 18:05

Really I think the problem with the question is how you are supposed to know someone’s bmi just by looking at them.

It's the same problem when people use dress sizes to define slim.

It's pointless unless you know how tall somebody is.

LaurieFairyCake · 04/02/2022 18:07

25 or less

I'm only 5 ft tall but at 25 BMI I'm a size 8

That's slim to me Confused

Svara · 04/02/2022 18:12

Either this thread has brought out all the competitively underweight posters, or my definition of “slim” is different from everyone else’s. To me, “slim” is a size 10-12

How many posters have said an underweight bmi is what they'd call slim? Healthy range is 18.5 to 25, 21.75 right in the middle of that. Many people are saying the lower half of the healthy range is slim. My bmi is 20 and I'm a 6 bottom, 8 to 10 top .

PurpleDaisies · 04/02/2022 18:17

@LapinR0se

My BMI is 19.5 which is “normal” according to the CDC website. So I assume under 18 is slim.
19.5 is at the lower end of the healthy range. I would assume you are slim.

Maybe some of the differences are down to what people think slim means.

LaurieFairyCake · 04/02/2022 18:18

Someone up thread said slim is 'under 18'

Which is incredibly distorted 'periods stopping' territory Hmm

Giraffesandbottoms · 04/02/2022 18:22

BMI is 19 and I’m slim

Blinkingbatshit · 04/02/2022 18:23

I haven’t been very well the past 12 months and I’ve dropped from a BMI of 21 (healthy size 10) to a BMI of (just!) under 18 (scrawny size 6☹️). I can tell you the biggest shock in size change between those 2 is my bust going from 30DD (occasional E!) to 30B - I really miss them!! Hoping to get better and get a chance to enjoy getting it back on - definitely looked & felt better ‘bigger’👍!!