# Doper BMI (Body Mass Index) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 24, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795 "2010-11-24T17:33:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/141 "2010-12-02T05:44:41Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > As a total layman (that is to say, I’m not sure if there is sufficient science to back this up), I feel like it has to be, particularly at the level of a BMI of 50. Doesn’t it at least require some amount of lack of self-esteem to allow yourself to become so unhealthily overweight? > > **Rachellogram** mentioned in another thread being sexually abused as a child. AFAIK, there is a high comorbidity between childhood sexual abuse and adult obesity. > > That being said, in another thread I just decried the practice of armchair psychiatry, so maybe I should shut up now. I just find it interesting that one set of self-destructive tendencies is treated with such compassion and understanding and another with so much derision and frustration. Apples and oranges, though. I think anorexics have a specific disorder in their brains that makes them see themselves as fat. Some sort of dysmorphia? Has nothing to do with appetite. Being fat seems to be about big appetite. (_usually_. In my case, at least.) So, I don’t think it’s anorexia on one end of the spectrum and morbid obesity on the other end. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/142 "2010-12-02T05:46:01Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > That being said, in another thread I just decried the practice of armchair psychiatry, so maybe I should shut up now. I just find it interesting that one set of self-destructive tendencies is treated with such compassion and understanding and another with so much derision and frustration. Maybe it’s the difference between actively killing yourself, as in anorexia, and passively killing yourself with obesity? I don’t know. Maybe it’s the difference between anorexia being the result of a recognized mental illness, and extreme obesity maybe, possibly being a symptom of one? I don’t know that either. I have all the sympathy in the world for people who are obese. I have been for most of my adult life, and only recently am merely overweight by BMI (as in, in the last two weeks or so.) My frustration is with people who insist that it’s impossible because whatever, when it clearly it’s more of a matter of can’t or won’t. And from experience, the “there there, dear” brigade did me way more harm than good. ETA: I didn’t see the other thread, so my earlier post was not a shot at you. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/143 "2010-12-02T05:51:05Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Apples and oranges, though. I think anorexics have a specific disorder in their brains that makes them see themselves as fat. Some sort of dysmorphia? Has nothing to do with appetite. Being fat seems to be about big appetite. (_usually_. In my case, at least.) So, I don’t think it’s anorexia on one end of the spectrum and morbid obesity on the other end. I think it can be the result of simply just liking food. But anorexia can also be just “wanting to be thin” or “wanting to have control.” If a desire or preference for either food or a certain body type or control can lead to one to life-threatening behavior, I think that there is a sign of mental illness there. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/144 "2010-12-02T05:56:42Z")
Hovering in the 24-25 range. 25 is not “overweight” except by the most pedantic standards. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/145 "2010-12-02T06:08:29Z")
> [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#): > > Hovering in the 24-25 range. 25 is not “overweight” except by the most pedantic standards. It really does depend on the body type. I’m 5’11" and @ 180 lbs I definitely feel slightly overweight. Hell, I float between 165 and 170 right now, and I feel somewhere in the 155-160 range is my ideal weight. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/146 "2010-12-02T11:15:27Z")
I have PCOS and my BMI is 22. I know several women my age with PCOS and none of them are obese (although they’re not skinny either). I have to say I am skeptical of the BMI calculator . . . it’s telling me I could weigh 60 kgs and still be considered a healthy weight. I start feeling uncomfortable at 55 kgs. 50 kgs is where I feel healthiest. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/147 "2010-12-02T13:10:38Z")
> [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#): > > Hovering in the 24-25 range. 25 is not “overweight” except by the most pedantic standards. That is, the standards of most health professionals in America. My BF’s doctor put him on the scale and told him he needed to watch his weight as he was a pound or two from being ‘overweight’. The man has a BMI of 24.5. He looks thin clothed and unclothed, doesn’t have a gut or much body fat, and when he had a BMI of 21 he was skin and bones (and still wore a size L shirt - it’s bone structure). If he did strength training and bulked up, he could easily qualify as ‘obese’ while being muscular and lean. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/148 "2010-12-02T14:50:08Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > You know, I always find it interesting that at the other extreme of weight issues, people with anorexia, everyone is super supportive and gentle. No one would tell an anorexic on the boards to, “just eat.” No one would sarcastically tell an anorexic that they have a “great attitude!” > > Everyone seems to recognize the psychological background of anorexia. And yet people freely ignore the underlying psychological and social issues accompanying obesity and feel free to criticize and dismiss. Nope. Wrong. I have seen zero instances on this board of someone criticizing and dismissing an obese person simpy for being obese. What gets criticized (and rightly so, IMO) is the attitude of some people that it is impossible for them or an obese friend to not be obese. Or that exercise doesn’t work because they know someone that works out all day and eats right and still gains weight. Those are the attitudes that people are being bagged on for, not whatever underlying psychological issues they have that causes them to be obese in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/149 "2010-12-02T15:14:28Z")
2004 - 31.3 Today - 21.1 For 20 years, I thought I just couldn’t lose weight permanently. Thought I was big boned, came from a big family, a big girl who would always be fat. I thought I had tried EVERY diet and kept failing. I had never tried permanently changing my eating habits. Turns out - I could lose weight and keep it off just fine. When I stopped eating junk and started eating good portions of super healthy foods, it was so easy, I felt like someone had waved a fairy wand over my head. My lifelong cravings, binging just…stopped. I would highly recommend a couple of books that really opened my eyes: [Mindless Eating](http://www.amazon.com/Mindless-Eating-More-Than-Think/dp/0345526880/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291302246&sr=8-1) - my big takeaway from this book - how do I know when I’m finished? When my plate is empty. Therefore, only put on my plate what I want to eat. [End of Overeating](http://www.amazon.com/End-Overeating-Insatiable-American-Appetite/dp/1605294578/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291302312&sr=1-1) - the food industry deliberately creates the perfect mixture of fat/sugar/salt to make food as irresistible as possible. Avoiding these foods has really helped me. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/150 "2010-12-02T16:09:39Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > You know, I always find it interesting that at the other extreme of weight issues, people with anorexia, everyone is super supportive and gentle. No one would tell an anorexic on the boards to, “just eat.” No one would sarcastically tell an anorexic that they have a “great attitude!” When I stopped eating as part of my “let’s experiment with different forms of self-destruction” phase, the best thing anyone ever did was pull me aside and say “Get the fuck over yourself. We all know what you’re doing, and it’s freaking us out. This is an exceptionally stupid way to kill yourself.” I wouldn’t recommend this approach for any random anorexic on the street, but it certainly shook me back into reality. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/151 "2010-12-02T16:25:18Z")
49.17% of (responding) Dopers are within “ideal” range? Wow, that seems… really hard to believe. - **VT** , 25.1 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/152 "2010-12-02T16:31:34Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > 49.17% of (responding) Dopers are within “ideal” range? Wow, that seems… really hard to believe. > > - **VT** , 25.1 Fatty. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/153 "2010-12-02T17:11:18Z")
Don’t make me roll myself out of this recliner. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/154 "2010-12-02T17:23:08Z")
Ideal, but only because I work out for two hours a day, five days a week and watch what I eat. I think a lot of people who are obese would be hesitant to post in this thread because they don’t want to be branded as obese. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/155 "2010-12-02T17:30:34Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > 49.17% of (responding) Dopers are within “ideal” range? Wow, that seems… really hard to believe. I agree. -Necros, 27.6, but working on it ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/156 "2010-12-02T17:34:41Z")
Why? I can’t get to the root of this assumption a lot of people seem to have that a majority of posters here are fat. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/157 "2010-12-02T17:34:51Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Don’t make me roll myself out of this recliner. Do you wash yourself with a rag on a stick? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/158 "2010-12-02T17:48:11Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Why? I can’t get to the root of this assumption a lot of people seem to have that a majority of posters here are fat. Yeah, I’m fuzzy on that too. Why should we assume that there aren’t lots and lots of slimmies on the dope? Is it just a ‘internet message board posters tend to be fat-living-in-their-mom’s-basement’ kind of thing? I also agree that it is silly to wonder why more folks aren’t lining up to post in a poll that they are ‘super-obese’. I’m going to assume most people who are ‘super obese’ will just as soon not take the time to post about it. Just like ‘are you pretty?’ polls are more likely to be voted in by pretty people. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/159 "2010-12-02T17:49:07Z")
The last time I weighed myself (last weekend), it was 24.4, compared to 35.0 in January 2009. I still look and feel a little overweight, though–I’d like to lose about another 15 - 20 pounds. Maybe BMI doesn’t work quite right for me because of my height (5’2). ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795/160 "2010-12-02T18:17:47Z")
We need about 10 more 35 - 39 BMI people to get rid of the slightly bimodal distribution here. Please urge your fat friends to vote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-bmi-body-mass-index/561795.md?page=9)