Are some people really heavy or am I kidding myself?

[Ellessdee]

I know I'm a bit overweight. I'm a solid size 12. I weighed myself and did my BMI out of curiosity and it's telling me I'm obese. Is BMI wildly inaccurate or am I in denial re my weight? I used to weight train and do have quite a bit of muscle but also a layer of fat on top! Anyway, trying to pose weight, just wondering if I should be worried!

"Died out now."

The 00s were not long after the 80s and 90s. It explains why sizing is complicated and how sizing inflation works, and why it's not a conspiracy to flatter overweight women into thinking they're thinner than they are.

It's also worth noting that, as difficult as sizing variation between shops is, it makes it more likely that you can find things to fit you. If everything was uniform, then if one shop won't work for you, you're out of luck.

Suggest people just read the link and see. The whole blog is fascinating.

The creators of the BMI? Which originated in the 1830's in Belgium? Did you have a seance and ask them if it accomodates all ethnic groups?

I don't know when it originated, but I know they've been re-valorised several times post-war. I think the most recent were in 1977 and 2000 in USA, so yes it would include

There was a census in US that year, over 16% BAME (not including hispanic, which was in a separate category) whereas current estimated for UK seem to be about 14%.

And again, that is why the healthy range is actually massive for each height.

@FatimaHatima huh? The information regarding BMI creation and it's limitations are well documented. You may live in the world of woo woo and get your information from a seance but normal people rely on published and peer reviewed research.

I could link information about BMI but I don't know you very well so I ain't doing your homework.

I'm a scientist. Sorry that you couldn't see the most obvious sarcasm ever employed.
Painful.

@FatimaHatima that's not his sarcasm works. But ok

It is actually. It's ok that you don't understand it though.

Ok

@lljkk I was a sprinter for avoidance of doubt.

Nevertheless, the links for the research were provided in my post

Do you feel the extra lbs helped you go faster, Shutit?

Kids aren't supposed to use BMI fixed rules, they are supposed to use percentiles.

Elite sprinters tend to have BMIs around 20.4, even in USA, where most are mixed race or AA.

I wonder who on thread agrees that you shouldn't be considered overweight unless at least 34% of your body is fat. That's one third of your body can be fat and you can still have a healthy weight. According to BMI detractors.

5ft 9 and a size 12. You sound positively perfect to me. I can't see how you can possibly be considered obese.

BMI is ridiculously inaccurate. It does not take into account muscle mass, activity levels, genetics, ethnicity, age, fat distribution.

The NHS BMI calculator does take into account activity levels, ethnicity and age

sizing is not a measurement of anything, I very much doubt she is a size 12 anyway, and at over 14 stone, she is most definitely obese.

If you don't know how any of this works, why would you comment?

Firstly where does she say that she weighs over 14 stone and secondly why would you assume that she is lying about her clothes size. Regardless this is MN not some research paper and I don't recall this post stating only experts need reply so wind your kneck in.

This.

OP gave her height & stated she was "obese". Someone looked up the threshold weight to get into obese category for a person of that height, which was > 14 stone.

OP hasn't said her exact weight or (seems obviously more important to me) her measurements, bust-waist-hips. Even more important, OP hasn't said whether her energy levels are good, and she can generally do all the things in life she'd like to. That include choice of clothes, running for the bus, keeping up with little ones, how she looks in mirror, other things that body size & shape can affect (good or bad).

I wonder what OP has decided about her body size and if OP would like to make any changes, based on information OP has.

If she's 5'9" and "obese" then she must be at least 14 and a half stone: that's not a supposition unless the OP has got her measurements wrong.

Shes not necessarily lying about the clothes she wears though - clothing sizes cover a huge range, especially with the last couple of years' trends to oversize items. Or she might carry all her weight on her hips and thighs and wear skirts which are very loose in that area.

For typical people BMI is fine, but a lot of people are overweight and clothing sizes are a rubbish way of judging if someone's overweight. I wear the same dress size now as I did 10 years ago pre children. I'm also substantially heavier and have a higher BMI.

It's really common at the moment for people to take challenges of BMI not being helpful for genuine outliers (eg people who are very muscly and train a lot) and use it to argue that overweight people aren't overweight. A lot of people are overweight but because so many people are overweight our perception of what overweight is has shifted.

Seems unlikely if you are a 12, I'm a 16 and have a bmi of 28.6, not good but not obese either. Similar height

dress sizes vary so much they are useless at measuring anything.

I'm right in the middle of a healthy bmi, pass the 'string test' (just) and at 5.9 have clothes in sizes 8-18 in my wardrobe which all fit me well.

And my dd, super fit, plays semi pro sport, very active job, wears size 10 is obese according to the charts - muscle mass is a major factor in bmi

@lljkk the level of research you have done here v simply look at the tons of literature that talks to different body types, race and BMI is slightly weird but each to their own....

I don't know whether my weight inhibited me or not. What, I do know is that my body fat was that of a high level athlete. Point being, I couldn't have lost it unless I lost muscle which was hard to do when training 5/6 times a week. Whilst not as lean, it's still there today, and was largely there before I started sprinting. My mum and sister are built similarly.

Muscle mass is more traditional of say 100 & 200m sprinters than it is for 800m sprinters, or pole vaulters. You can't just pull up data that refers to 'athletes' and have it mean anything. Dwayne Chambers (at all points in his career) was larger and faster than say Colin Jackson. There is a hard and fast rule when conflating weight, muscle mass and health. Especially for sports that rely on fast twitch muscle fibre.

Anyway, we've moved quite far from the original OP.

If you want to learn more rather than defend a point that it seems you may have not known about, simply Google 'Black women BMI' and look at the research.