What BMI do you consider to be fat, slim or skinny?

[waschunky]

Nc for this. Inspired by a family chat about size and what is considered the ideal now compared to when I was a teen in the 90s. Teenage Dd was saying how big bums and very chunky thighs are the ideal whereas I'm mentally in the idealised thigh gap era and an arse that's not got its own postcode.

It's obvious from reading threads on here that what is considered obese, overweight, slim, skinny, underweight varies and doesn't necessarily follow the BMI scale. What classes as fat now? When I was a teen fat was probably actually obese and now those obese are often deemed a little chunky or stocky. Normal bmi is seen as skinny by some. I never hear the word plump anymore. Pleasantly plump was how my sister referred to herself and she was at the top end of a healthy bmi maybe half a stone over the top end.

I'm not sure if I could accurately assess someone's size and weight against clinical parameters. There was a programme on tv yonks ago where participants were asked to say which outline they thought was theirs and they always chose the one that was one to two sizes bigger.

Views are probably skewed by the media but to me obese is still very fat, overweight is a little chunky, normal weight I've no idea, slim would be thigh gap, collar bones and cheek bones visible, skinny would be something I'll never be 😁 and probably in my mind is actually clinically underweight.

There will always be exceptions to the BMI 'rules' but at population level it's actually pretty good. All those people who say they aren't overweight at a BMI of 28 probably actually are 🤷‍♀️
Also - hardly any pro athletes are actually overweight. Maybe the odd weightlifter or shot putter, but go to the track and field, swimming pool, volleyball, football etc abs they're all super lean.

slim would be thigh gap, collar bones and cheek bones visible

Plenty of slim people with none of the above.

Thigh gap depends not only on your weight but your body type/shape. So you can be considered super slim (low body fat and low BMI and size 8) and not have thigh gaps.

I tend to have quite visible collar bones even when I’m at the higher range of my BMI just because that’s the way I am shaped and as for cheekbones visible - I had a friend who was 5 stone overweight who had and still has the best cheekbones.

If you looked at her from head up maybe you would have assumed she was slim. She’s now lost the weight and her face has barely changed - still slim Faced whether she’s 9 stone or 14 stone.

Just calculated my bmi- 25.7. So just into the overweight category. I have lost some weight recently and several people have commented that I'm skinny. I'm a size 10 maybe a 12 in some shops, so a healthy size and definitely not skinny. I think people's perceptions have been skewed over the decades due to the overall increased size of the population.

But clothes size doesn't mean anything at all. People may as well say they're size green with blue spots. Vanity sizing has a lot to answer for.
BMI essentially works.

I don't think I've ever been a normal BMI as an adult. At my lowest weight, I was size 8/10 and still a touch into overweight category by a few pounds. I wasn't super curvy at that weight or anything, either - I don't have an explanation for it.

I use BMI as a guide rather than a rule - I think statistics show that it's the obese category where health risks start showing up rather than the overweight category anyway.

I don't entirely disagree but obviously a size 6 - 8 is smaller than a 12 or 14 isn't it.

The point still stands that my fitness is very good and I've barely got any fat anywhere on my body, my collarbones are visible etc.

I'm a similar height, not overweight, similar size but I have squishy bits and a marathon is going to take me 5 hours unless I manage to speed up between now and October!

You probably have more muscle than I do which is taking up less space so you are the same size but heavier. Still though, seems insane that you are obese and I'm not at the same size and height even factoring in muscle.

BMI 24 want to get back to 22 but like wine and cake!

I also think BMI is a terrible indicator. It makes no sense for any of my friends, one was in the normal weight category and almost skeletal and her periods stopped, one was obese, worked out, super fit and looked ‘normal’.

Just watch any tv programme from the 70/80's and you'll see what people should look like. The George Michael Christmas one is a good example. Everyone is slim, in fact by today's standards they are very slim.

The other thing would be to go to a vintage shop and look at those size 10/12 clothes, much much smaller than today. Too much vanity sizing, your clothes size says nothing about a healthy weight.

Society is now used to seeing overweight people and it's become the norm. There will always be outliers but bmi is a good tool imo as is waist to height (although if you're apple that doesn't work). When I get to 25 bmi I am slim but unless I've exercised not toned. At 30 I am very fat.

I think they do. If you look at video footage from the 60s to 80s most people were slim. Being overweight was the exception. It has become far more normalised unfortunately. I think the main thing is to focus on health because everybody has a different natural build so BMI will only really be a general indicator, particularly if you are naturally tall or very short etc.

I think it's easy to tell whether you are overweight compared to what's natural for your own body. My BMI has always come up as being slightly underweight on the BMI scale but it's just my natural build and because I am tall so I'm mot concerned about it.

I don't think bmi takes into account frame.

I have a very narrow frame and am only 5'2". My bmi is around 21.8 apparently but if I put a few pounds on I start to look very chubby and just don't feel healthy. But still within apparently healthy bmi.

I've also put a lot more muscle on lately so my body composition is very different (better) to when I was the same weight but had less muscle.

I find waist size and body fat are good indicators. Especially visceral body fat.

I know DEXA is the most accurate but they are super expensive, so I find any kind of body composition machine helpful. I think more gyms and GPs should have them.

They show specific things like bone density, muscle mass, visceral fat and subcutaneous body fat and also will include BMI and body weight.

BHF has a good guide for assessing your ideal waist size range.

For me, it’s pretty accurate. BMI 19.3 at 5”4 and size 8, I would not say I look “skinny”, I look slim.

It does really. If you’re small framed, it makes sense you should be on the lower end of the healthy range, if you’re large framed, you should be on the higher end of the healthy range. There is quite a difference between the low and high end of healthy and people need to apply common sense.

TV programmes from the 80s aren't going to tell you much about how "normal" people looked unless they're vox pops type things, but I think it's indisputable that people are bigger now on average than they were then.

BMI is useful for populations but I think I read it was never intended to be used individually/should not be used individually.

I go by how my knees feel nd what my bloods/BP/pulse etc are like. If all biomarkers are normal or better and my knees aren't sore then I consider myself to be healthy. That's very much not where I am at the moment but I know from experience that when I am there my BMI will still be somewhere between 29 and 31.

Doesn't healthy bmi have a range of around 3 stone? Surely that allows for frame size?
There will be outliers but as a rough guide I think it's fine.

BMI is a pretty good approximation to see if you are a healthy weight for your height and age. Most of the people claiming it doesn't apply to them are delusional. And men prefer slim women in general

I don't really focus on BMI alone. I'm smack bang in the middle of the healthy BMI range but I've got a 34 inch waist which is on the bigger side for a female. I also have a short torso and carry all my weight on top of hips on waist. Slimmer arms and leg but not stick- like. Id love to get an accurate measurement of my body fat.

I'm under 5.1" and I weigh 8.5 stone... which is in the middle of my ok range. To get to the skinny end I would need to be 7.7 stone. I would be ill-thin at anything under 8 stone and wearing children's clothes.
I have had eating disorders in the past and this is not a helpful goal.

My DP is 6.3" and 16 stone. His BMI tells him he is obese. He is not. He is a brick shit house Rugby build.

BMI is nonsense.

Over 23 - fat
20 - slim
under 18.5 - skinny

(bring in the abuse )

On**

BMI does work for the average person on the street. Most of us are not muscular athletes

It's a good overall indication and not an exact science. People however like to be in denial about being overweight and it's as simple as that. We already have someone on this thread who says they're slim at 14 stone - it's our perception that's off

My bmi is 23.5. I'm very average weight and I'm not overweight

Doesn't healthy bmi have a range of around 3 stone? Surely that allows for frame sizeThere will be outliers but as a rough guide I think it's fine.

Yes I think this is true, I know for me the bottom of my healthy BMI range is skinny and top would be fat, I've always felt it's those with above average muscle density that likely don't fit well into BMI. I started a lot more exercise this year and had smaller measurements than I had in previous years with the same weight (but still well within range, I haven't become a bodybuilder!)

It’s an interesting viewpoint for sure that doesn’t really make sense to me 😆

There are people with a BMI of 24 who may look just as slim if not slimmer than a differently shaped person with a BMI of 22.

It seems a bit arbitrary given the fact that BMI is just one health indicator/ size metric.