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.

When people roll out that unbearable clichéd tired old phrase 'we've lost sight of what a healthy weight looks like' I wonder at what point we actually, as a society, had a good handle on what a healthy weight looked like. I'm not sure we ever did - I don't think women's health has ever been at the centre of beauty standards.

Spot on @ToastInTheTown I agree with all of that.

Most think overweight isn’t that overweight because so many are overweight.

My perception is that many people are overweight.

I’m 5ft 5 and around 9.5 stone post menopause, I’m a 10/12.

I saw an MRI recently of a slim and overweight person side by side when I was watching a clip about oils and fats in cooking. The amount of internal fat was clear to see.

I know fat shaming is unkind but the body positive message is also destructive. When I was young being fat was the exception. People lie about people looking great, they don’t.

Completely agree.

Perceptions are so skewed now by what we most commonly see: overweight/obese people.

15-20 underweight. BMI 20-25 normal 25-30 overweight although muscular people especially men may be fine with this BMI. 30-40 obese, over 40 morbidly obese. These are all for adults. Children should be skinnier so there are BMI centile charts for under 18s

So the comments about men preferring slim women what about women who prefer slim men? Because that’s me I have never fancied a bloke that’s overweight. Is that classed as wrong?

I feel slim when my bmi is 23. Anything below 27 I feel fine but I carry a bit of weight ok. It sits on my boobs/bum/legs and I still have a slim face and stomach. Some people look quite doughy even with a low bmi

My bmi isn't too bad (just over 25) but I don't pay much attention to it as I've got a spare tyre and love handles. I'm a size 14. My friends all weigh more than me but actually wear smaller dress sizes. So I agree with what others are saying that it's an individualised thing to be able to judge health. I think I have small bones but carry a lot of fat (if that's a thing)

My perception seems resolutely unskewed, despite all the fat-positive marketing and upsized clothing. Excess weight for body frame is still very noticeable — to me it signifies eating more calories than needed; consuming more of our shared resources than required; from an earth which is dying under the sheer weight of human abuses; while others of our species still go hungry; and other species become extinct. I really don't like it.

Inclusivity of diverse healthy body shapes is good; normalising unhealth and unequal distribution of resources is bad.

I see BMI as a collective tool, and generally misapplied by individuals. A healthy weight for your body frame and ethnicity will be found somewhere within the (very large) Healthy BMI range, not any/everywhere* *within it. Only specific exceptions will be outwith it altogether.

I have been overweight (currently still am, for me, though within Healthy BMI), but I've always understood that I am overweight, and felt the excess weight, and worked to get back to healthy functioning again. It has never resulted in me warping reality or society to justify being overweight and unhealthy as a good thing.

Our bodies may change as we age, but to me that's more a call to pay attention and adjust our own habits, not an invitation to inevitable ill-health.

It was created earlier than that, and was last revalorised in 2004.

It's a screening, not a diagnostic tool. Muscle mass outliers, such as those in highly physical jobs and some highly trained sportspeople in some disciplines tend to have a high BMI. But the range within the "healthy category (can be as much as a couple of stone) would cover the majority of the population. Using the separate scale for those from Far East/Asia is however worth it, as the body type means they can be quite a long way overweight before it registers on the usual one.

I think we have a changed perception of how we see "fat" - the example from Charlie's Chocolate Factory films over the years is one illustration. Also looking back at old film from the 70s or earlier shows a difference. The industry-avowed vanity sizing boom of the 1990s didn't help either.

I think it's unlikely that people would nowadays be seen as overweight until their BMI is getting up towards 30. But "too skinny" can kick in even slap in the middle of the healthy range.

It's just a stupid generalisation; men have different tastes and preferences as do women. There are body shapes generally considered more attractive but there are people who personally prefer something different. It's not helpful to say 'men like women to be x' because there are many men in the world and they don't all think the same way.

There are also women who are lesbians, women who are asexual and women who are already in relationships with partners who like their bodies the way they are.

There are all kinds of reasons that might motivate me to lose weight or build muscle but 'what men like' is not one of them! I couldn't give less of a fuck what men think of the way I look; it's not on my radar.

I hate BMI, when I was 180cm / size 10 I was still classed as overweight. The only time I was classed as a healthy weight was when I was a size 6/8 I was far too skinny being 5”11. I don’t tend to take too much notice as when you could see my ribs I was only just in the healthy range 😭

Mine is 36 and I hate myself for it. 5 foot 2 and 95kg.

I would personally feel and look healthy and slim enough at 27-29 (around 75kg) given the years I’ve had this excess weight, despite 18-25 being the normal range. I’ve not been 63kg since I was at university.

How on earth does that work?! Are you four feet tall?

I can’t find it now but I think a pp said you’re unlikely to be called fat unless your BMI is 30
, that is wrong completely.

I am slightly overweight but considered fat by some people. I am not even insulted by that as a. it’s a fact that I’m overweight and b. I think there’s worse things than being fat.
But the reality is you don’t have to be huge to be considered fat.

I was called plus size recently while being BMI of 26-27 and size 10/12. The guy wasn’t even trying to neg he was being genuine and saying he likes fat women basically 😂 I was like ok thanks I guess 😆

My friend who was BMI of around 28 was called chubby randomly on the street. I’ve heard even on MN plenty of women talking about receiving abuse from men on dating apps for being fat and they are BMI 25-29. Or having friends or female family members comment negatively on their weight.

I think we over estimate the impact of body positivity which tbh is mainly online. In real life
fat people especially fat women do get a hard time. There’s countless reports - and I’ve experienced this too - of people getting treated better while out and about in public when they lose a couple of stone.

Many of these people were never say 10 stone overweight but they were carrying 1-3 extra weight and they suddenly became invisible or had people being actively rude to them.

I do a lot of sport and I think BMI is useful. The range it gives you is massive. I carry a lot of muscle and am 23. Fat to me is 25+, too thin is 18, 21 is ideal.

Either doing the maths wrong or vanity sizing.

I feel skinny when my BMI is below 20, slim when it’s around 21-22 and feel flabby when it’s 24 plus.

I am physically fit and active and have been a healthy weight for most of my adult life other than during pregnancies or periods of intense stress when I have gain 2 stone or so. I work hard to maintain my weight. Waist measurement around 78cm, height 5’7 and weight between 9 stone 7 and 10 stone 6 most of the time.

I’m exactly the same…thin limbs, flabby stomach

I think it’s a guide that works for most people but not all so skinny/slim/ fat can be difficult to gauge.

I’ve had difficulties with BMI because I’m short and have a very small frame; my ‘set point’ puts my BMI 16/17. Slim yes, but I definitely don’t look gaunt. My BMI was 20.9 when I was 39 weeks pregnant (the only time I’ve ever been a ‘normal BMI’)
My son (aged 3) has the same build and wears 9-12 months trousers so it’s obviously genetic.

There are always going to be outliers on both sides of the scale.

BMI I think works for me. I am short but with a large frame (attractive!) Current BMI is 25 and I am size 12 on bottom, 10 on top (pear shaped), still flabby on hips and thighs. You can see clavicles and ribs etc. At BMI nearly 30 I was definitely very fat all over. When my BMI gets to 23 I am slim. I weight train and have muscle under the flab, but I think I would have to be really body builder like for it to mean that BMI didn't work.

I find the height / waist ratio thing strange as surely that depends on your frame? I am short but not petite framed - broad shoulders and hips so would have to be really quite skinny before my waist was half my height. eg there is no way even when very bony that I would ever fit into a size 6 or 8. I have been many sizes over the years and have never reached that elusive goal, even at 7 stone (I am 5 foot nothing).

Why do you care so much about other people’s bodies?

Worry about your own if you like, but leave everyone else alone.

Why the need to decide if your colleague / neighbour / friend is overweight or underweight or within “acceptable boundaries”?

Someone at the gym today told me I wasn't fat and didn’t need to lose any more weight (I've lost 26 kg). I weigh 90 kgs and have a bmi of 34. I must say I found it very odd. I suspect that we get bombarded with so many images and messages about weight and what we should look like, that we've forgotten how we should look to be a healthy size.

Waist measurement, and hip to waist is a far better measure.

Again back to DD, who has a 25" inch waist but is BMI 24 and needs to put weight on!!

@eqpi4t2hbsnktd yeah, so very skinny. And it depends on your height. But yeah, I consider that skinny. 'Skinny' for me means dangerously so. Anything else is just small or slim.

BMI takes no account of age - I’m 68, 5’2” and 91/2 stone - I’d look ridiculous at 7st 12lb which is the lower end.