Is a size 14 viewed as overweight?

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Just reading online that uk size 16 is the average size of a uk woman right now. Im a size 14 and 5ft 3 so always felt overweight anyway but in reality would you view someone as a size 14 overweight? For me anyone who can fit into a size 10 would be considered slim although I know clothes sizes come up different depending on shop. Just curious what dress size people on here buy and if they consider themselves overweight.

I am 5’3 and obese at size 14. I was overweight at a size 10 too.

I’m 5ft 6 and since staring HRT in July have whacked on a load of weight. BMI 25.5, my size 10 jeans feel tight, and I feel really chunky!

Definitely going to make a change just needed to have a reality check. Friends and close family won’t always be honest with you as they don’t like to offend but sometimes you need some honesty.

I think the problem is that dress sizes have changed so much. I can comfort myself that I'm "only" a 14 and the average is 16 but what dress sizes are now so large that measure is meaningless
As it is, (as a fellow 5'3) I am a stone over the top to a healthy BMI, am something like 33% body fat & my thighs rub. In the affluent, middle class area where we live, I am also visibly one of the fattest people at the school gate, on the sidelines of my kids activities, in my work place.
So, unfortunately, I think it is fat.
Not that I seem to be able to do anything about it.

5' 4 here and size 16, I know I'm fat. To be slim (size 10/12)I need to be out of double figures weight-wise so when 14 I'd still look fat. It's depressing but just because it's the norm doesn't mean it's healthy. I'm much happier being 9st something but it takes a lot of work to keep my weight down.

It really depends on height and build, also brand as there is no standard sizing but I'm 5'6", big framed and a size 14 (12 in some clothes). I need to lose 2st more to be my 'fighting weight' and a 10-12. I'm quite fit and don't look fat exactly due to my build and proportions also angular face, but am definitely overweight and working on it.

I have a sis in law who is 6ft, willowy and athletic, does triathlons and wears a 14-16. There's no way she's overweight but is just tall and broad framed so it really depends.

62% of adults are overweight or obese in the UK. That's why the average dress size is a 14.

I'm a 14- but 5'8" and carry my weight on my bottom and thighs, so mostly I'm happy with how I look. Particularly at my age (53). I've put on weight gradually over several decades- after my first son, in 1996, I weighed 10 st 4. Now 12st 7- although some of that is muscle, because of 18 years of karate training. Not enough to excuse myself though! The BMI calculator puts my BMI at 26.5.

Also - tbh saying size 14 is fairly meaningless. Vanity sizing, lots of use of Lycra/Spandex/other stretch fabrics etc means that we can squeeze ourselves into clothing that would've swamped the same size 20, 30 years ago.

Unfortunately due to vanity sizing it quite possibly is these days. Shops such as M&S and Next are dreadful for it.
BMI is a better bet.

I'm 5'8", I'm currently over a 14 but when I was a 14, I was top end of the healthy weight range for BMI. Given size inflation etc (I find Next sizes quite generous, for example. I'm currently a 16 at Next but an 18 other places) it's possible a 14 would fit me now at an 'overweight' BMI weight.

There are a lot of factors to take into consideration, basically.

This thread doesn't make sense. It varies a lot. Some of the statements are nonsense. One referred to a size 14 having 'rolls of fat'. I've never seen anyone sized 14 have rolls of fat. They are a bit overweight, wider, but not rolls. Plus it depends on your height if you're 5 foot, 5 foot 2, 5 foot
4, or 5 foot 8, you carry weight completely differently. Someone much smaller like myself doesn't carry the weight as well as somebody who is 5 foot 8.

At 5 foot 3 almost certainly yes, but frame increases with height so if you were 6 foot odd almost certainly not.

Doesn’t mean you don’t look good though

I'm 5ft 2 and a size 14 would mean I'm seriously overweight

When I was a size 12 - 14 I went to the GP for a check up as was unwell with stomach ulcer. He weighed me and said I was too heavy and told me to lose weight.

I did. Im now an 8 and I felt much better! I still have curves and a belly.

I was annoyed at my GP at the time. I was so offended but when I look back at photos I was absolutely massive!

Just to point out no size 14 doesn't automatically mean you are overweight. It definitely depends on height. I find it quite insulting the number of people on here saying yes size 14 is overweight.

At 5 foot 9 weighing 11 stone 4lb wearing size 14 clothes I am definitely not overweight. BMI has me in the healthy range and I can in fact go up to 12stone 1lb before I'd be classed as overweight at which point I'd probably need a size 16 in jeans/trousers.

Probably. I’m size 10 and in no way slim, have loads of fat on me. Size 10 is old school size 14 so I think a size 14 now would usually be overweight depending on build.

Size 14 5 ft 4 is overweight for me by 1-2st.
Size 12 is borderline healthy to healthy weight.
Size 10 is perfect but I haven't been a size 10 for a long time.

It shocked me when I did the bmi calculator. I think a huge amount of people are obese without knowing it. I've managed to lose 5lbs the past 2 weeks just by making a few changes. I recently joined slimming world. Some of the jargon is a bit cringy but I just go to get weighed in each week and it will hopefully keep me on track.

Who cares how it's viewed? Look at your BMI. You can't use dress size to figure out if your are a healthy weight or not. People have different shaped bodies, and some prefer to wear clothes looser or tighter.

I’m fascinated by perception. I’m hour glass shape and 5’5” in dress size 12-14 (probably more 14 right now). I feel fat and bmi is 10lbs over weight however my Dd was describing me the other day and I over heard her saying I am
slim. I’m fairly hip heavy. So in answer to your question I think shape makes a difference.

2018-2021 I was size 10-12 and running 3 times a week. Since having covid in March this year I’ve got lazy and struggled. I’d like to lose a few lbs but don’t feel the need to drop more than a stone.

Depends on the shop. I’ve got a BMI of twenty four and three quarters and am a consistent M&S size 12. But I bet I’m a size 14 in a lot of younger shops, and might even be looking for a 16 depending on shape.

If you’re talking about public perception of overweight rather than BMI then it’s location and age dependent. For a middle class inner London twenty something I’d be overweight. For a fifty something in some other locations I’d count as slim.

Yes - a taller person in a size 14 is not likely to be overweight. Lots of taller women would need a bigger size just to accommodate a larger frame - bigger shoulders and hips.

I am a size 14 and I am obese as per my BI, quite close to the limit between overweight and obese.

Clothes size doesn't define if your overweight it's your weight/bmi that does that

I'm 5'10. I lift heavy weights and have very broad, muscley shoulders. Because of that, I regularly buy a 14. However, my bmi is 21 and I have a 26 inch waist.

This thread doesn't make sense. It varies a lot. Some of the statements are nonsense. One referred to a size 14 having 'rolls of fat'. I've never seen anyone sized 14 have rolls of fat.

Just because you have never seen it, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

In any case, how do you know what dress size everybody you have seen wears?

Have they all left the labels sticking out?

Very few women will be a healthy weight at a size 14. They might be overweight, but they can still look gorgeous though!