BMI...we're back in the middle ages...

**Gingersnap** · 07-19-2010, 10:59 PM

The BMI is a pretty lame screening test. There is no way to distinguish fat from muscle and age is not a factor after the mid-teen years. Clearly, a 70 year old and a 20 year old don't have the same muscle/fat ratio.

A better "test" would be waist size with an age factor. While a 70 year old might have a 34 inch waist (if female), this wouldn't necessarily mean she was fat given her stick-like limbs. A 34 inch waist on a 20 year old female would spell fatness unless she was 6 feet tall or more.

Maybe we should just go back to the old Met Life tables.

**Rockntractor** · 07-19-2010, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by patriot45

I took the bs... I mean BMI test! I'm 5'9 and 215, Yes Rock, I got down to 215!
BUT, I'm big boned! :D

That's 3.1 pounds per inch, maybe we could stretch you out.

**Rockntractor** · 07-19-2010, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by Gingersnap

The BMI is a pretty lame screening test. There is no way to distinguish fat from muscle and age is not a factor after the mid-teen years. Clearly, a 70 year old and a 20 year old don't have the same muscle/fat ratio.

A better "test" would be waist size with an age factor. While a 70 year old might have a 34 inch waist (if female), this wouldn't necessarily mean she was fat given her stick-like limbs. A 34 inch waist on a 20 year old female would spell fatness unless she was 6 feet tall or more.

Maybe we should just go back to the old Met Life tables.

Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die.

**Odysseus** · 07-19-2010, 11:09 PM

Body Mass Indexes don't distinguish between muscle and fat, and muscle weighs more, so a buff person who may weigh more than a person of the same height with a higher body fat percentage comes off with a higher BMI. They're also based on antiquated data, from the fifties, when weightlifting and body building were very rare.

When I was in my late twenties/early thirties, I was a serious gym rat and weighed in at 185, bench-pressed 225 (three sets of ten, followed by incline and decline bench), ran two miles in under fifteen minutes, and had a BMI of 25, and a body fat percentage of 15%, which meant that I was pretty cut up, but no matter, the BMI ruled me as a puffball. At 5'11", I'd have to weigh 170 to be within my BMI. The last time I weighed that was when I graduated from OCS, and I was scrawny.

**Jfor** · 07-19-2010, 11:11 PM

33 years old. 6'1" and 238 lbs. BMI of 31.8 yet I have bodyfat % of 15-18%. Yet the .gov is gonna classify me as obese.

**marv** · 07-19-2010, 11:15 PM

Originally Posted by Rockntractor

Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die.

Exactly, and I've been doing it my way for a long, long time. Enjoyed every minute!

**Tecate** · 07-20-2010, 12:00 AM

Isn't it going to be great having a bunch of government bureaucrats running every aspect of your life? All in the name of saving you from yourself, of course.

**Gingersnap** · 07-20-2010, 12:18 AM

Originally Posted by Tecate

Isn't it going to be great having a bunch of government bureaucrats running every aspect of your life? All in the name of saving you from yourself, of course.

The bonus part is that they will dictate your private habits even when you are too old to qualify for "treatment". Yay!

**Tecate** · 07-20-2010, 12:48 AM

Originally Posted by Gingersnap

The bonus part is that they will dictate your private habits even when you are too old to qualify for "treatment". Yay!

In the coming years, we are all about to be fitted with our very own personalized electronic straight jacket. You won't be allowed to make a single move without the government's hot breath on the back of your neck. It will be a nightmare that most people probably can't even comprehend.

**Rockntractor** · 07-20-2010, 12:51 AM

Originally Posted by Tecate

In the coming years, we are all about to be fitted with our very own personalized electronic straight jacket. You won't be allowed to make a single move without the government's hot breath on the back of your neck. It will be a nightmare that most people probably can't even comprehend.

This can still be prevented this November, tell your friends.