BMI says I'm overweight?!

[goodmorningsunny]

According to my BMI, I'm overweight. Do you put any stock in BMI? Are there better tools? I'm a size 8 ffs!

How tall are you?

Are you very short? My friend is 5'1" and a size 8-10. She definitely looks "chubby" although not hugely overweight.

No, the opposite, I'm 5"11, nearly 6"...

Where are your size 8 clothes from? Next then you could easily be overweight due to vanity sizing 🙄.

Sorry that's a bit tongue in cheek, how tall are you and how much do you weigh? Do you have a belly? Do you feel overweight?

Are you sure you've done it right? I'm 5'10 and size 8 and my BMI is 19.

My BMI hovers around 25 so borderline normal/overweight. I'm a 10/12 on top and an 8/10 on bottom (lovely apple shape 🙄). I think it's ridiculous. I am only 5ft 2 so have hardly any space for weight gain!

DH is really fit and an avid runner & gym goer. At 6ft 5 his BMI is nearly 30 but he actually has very low body fat and is mostly muscle

How much do you weigh OP? I'm a size 8/10 at 5'9 and weigh 9 stone 5.

5"11, 81kg. Actually quite a flat stomach. Breastfeeding so boobs are quite heavy atm but Itd be wishful thinking to think that's the problem... maybe I just have to accept it 🤦‍♀️

Used to be very active before baby... again, wishful thinking that muscle might still be hanging around from before pregnancy...

If you're a size 8 and not visibly overweight with a healthy lifestyle I really wouldn't worry about the number on the scale!

It's just very hard to accept being measured as overweight when you feel great on your skin!!!

OP, BMI comes up at least once a month on here. BMI is a measure across a population, at best it's a guide to an individual. Dress size on the other hand is far more 'unscientific' with different garments being sized according to the manufacturer and, to an extend, to the market place.

So long as you are living a reasonably healthy life, eating decent food and getting some exercise I shouldn't worry too much about your weight unless it starts to concern you, and as your breast-feeding at the moment I suspect you have far more important things to deal with now.

It depends what you mean by put stock in it. Do you mean can people who are overweight/obese according to BMI be healthy? Look 'good'? Be happy and confident in their bodies? And can people who are a healthy weight according to BMI be the opposite, unhealthy and unhappy with their body? Because of course the answer to all of these is yes, but then again in general and for most people I would still say it is 'better' to be in the healthy weight category.

Certainly in health/scientific terms dress size is a pretty poor indication as there's no consensus or consistency in what a size 8/10/12 means and of course depending on body type you may be different sizes in tops/dresses/trousers etc.

BMI is quite widely castigated as obviously it's a very simple calculation that tries to apply the same principle across an entire population but on the whole I think it's a useful basic indicator for everyone other than extreme outlier cases such as body builders. People who point to people who are overweight but still extremely healthy or vice versa IMO miss the point, that's like saying the health advice to not smoke to reduce risk of cancer is stupid because some smokers live to 90 with no health conditions and some people who've never smoked in their life die at 30 of incurable cancer, obviously it's about risk and the population as a whole, not a simple 'be this weight and you're grand' situation.

I think you do need to look at your body type as a whole and things like waist to height ratio may be more important (as visceral fat, the fat you carry around your middle, is particularly damaging), or things like body fat % or blood cholesterol levels or blood sugar tests could be more relevant for your health depending on family history and other risk factors. Also coming back to what your goals are, do you want to 'feel' healthier or slimmer or are you happy as you are, obsessive focus on any one measure such as BMI or simple weight or dress size can often be counter-productive and make you feel worse about yourself, for me I generally prefer to focus on fitness goals rather than the scales as that's a more positive attitude (what I want to achieve rather than what I don't want to look like) although a more trim waistline and a slightly lowered BMI are side benefits...

The waist/height ratio is much more accurate than BMI, especially at either end of the scale. At 5'11", is your waist size bigger than 35 1/2 inches?

I guessed your age but put those numbers into nhs calculator and you were a healthy weight 🤷🏼‍♀️.

Weight is a funny thing. I'm 5'7 but need to be 9 stone to be an 8 comfortably, we all carry weight differently

Admittedly only just I know but you are feeding

I'm surprised you're a UK 8 at 81kg. I'm 5' 9" and 63 kg and size 8 in tops and 10 in trousers. BMI around 21.

I'd worry about it when you stop breastfeeding and your hormones settle down..

How's your waist size to height ratio, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, how do you feel in yourself? How fit are you? BMI is one indication but you need to look at the whole picture.

Waist size in a recently pregnant woman isn’t a good indicator either! Good grief, give yourself a break.

(If this is an extended breastfeeding post and the child is five, ignore that.)

5'11" and 81 kg is exactly bmi 25, isn't it, so bang on the borderline of 'normal' - so you won't be 'overweight' when you're past breastfeeding.

I'd love to be BMI 24.9. Mine is 27, down from nearly 30 though in August. My waist to height ratio is in the healthy range though, BP on the low side of normal, fit, low resting HR, cholesterol really good, am a size 12-14 and 5'7". I'd like to get down to normal BMI though but not much less than 11 stone though - BMI 24 for me- as my blood pressure would get too low. And I'd be a size 10, I don't need to be slimmer than that in my late 40s.

I'm surprised you're a UK 8 at 81kg. I'm 5' 9" and 63 kg and size 8 in tops and 10 in trousers. BMI around 21

I’m 5 ft 9 with a BMI of 17.6, classed as underweight, but in the shops I buy from I’m a size 10 in trousers and tops and I have no boobs at all.
Sizing really means nothing these days due to vanity sizing & lack of consistency between stores. It’s such a pain.

Sizing means nothing, it depends on the shop. As I gained weight I managed to kid myself I was still a size 16 by slowly gravitating to different shops.

As I have lost weight, it's been obvious that BMI has been bang on accurate for me. I'm now hovering just over the healthy weight mark and yes, my waist could go down a bit, there is still flab so there would be scope to be a bit healthier.

I look at the size charts for most clothing stores. When I look at the size charts I am between a 12 and a 14 in most shops, and this bears out with the sizes of clothes I buy. So I don't think clothes sizes are meaningless, not for me, I find them fairly consistent though of course the fit/cut of different garments varies. It's one measure of how I'm managing my weight, but not the sole measure.

81 kgs , at 5.11 , sorry, but even if you are in the metabolically healthy 24.9 or 25 , you are overweight. BMI is more accurate than vanity clothes sizing