You’ve all probably seen this chart before. It tells you how much you should weigh for your height.
If your outside the range your considered “overweight”.
Is this even anywhere close to being realistic?
I’m a 6’1 male with a medium build (definately not large) and it says that if I’m over 174 lbs. I’m overweight??
5 years ago I was very in shape, had a 32" waist, looked very very skinny and weighed in at 192. According to the chart that puts me at borderline overweight with a large build???
5 years later and about 210 I look slim to average but not overweight at all with a 34" waist. According to the chart I must be seriously overweight.
So where do you fit in on this chart. If you actually made it where you need to be are you extremely thin?
How realistic is this thing?
For my height and build, their high number is a pound less than what I personally would consider my drop dead low weight. So no, I don’t consider it to be very realistic, unless we’re talking models, actors, anorexics, or very very tiny people.
My God, I just looked at the men’s table - according to them, Mr. Athena should weigh 30 pounds lower than his current target weight (we’re both trying to lose a few pounds.) If he weighed what that chart said, he’d have no muscle mass at all, and look emaciated. He’s currently about fifty pounds above the stated weight on that table, and he looks fine. Not skinny, but far from overweight.
It works for me. I’m 5’9" with a medium frame, and the lowest in that range is quite appropriate for me. I maintained that weight as an adult for a long time, until I got sedentary. I’m trying to get back there now.
That scale is on a site promoting a weight loss program, so I’d say they’re trying to drum up some business. I think the scale here is a bit more realistic.
Depends on what you mean. I can’t speak for that chart, but BMI (Body mass index) is a commonly used medical measure (a weight-to-body surface area ratio) that is associated with increasing health risks:
A person with a BMI of 24 or less is considered to be an ideal weight. A person with a BMI of 25-29.9 is considered to be overweight. Individuals who fall into the BMI range of 25 to 34.9, and have a waist size of over 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women, are considered to be at especially high risk for obesity-related health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. A BMI over 40 indicates that a person is morbidly obese. This can increases a person’s risk of death from any cause by 50%-150%.
Typically, the “ideal” range for BMI is what would be considered societally to be skinny. For example, on the BMI chart, you can get your BMI by comparing your height and weight. I’m 6’3". According to the CDC, I’m “normal” even down to 152 pounds. That would look pretty darn thin on a 6’3" frame.
I’ve seen it before. I think body fat percentage is a somewhat more useful measurement.
For example, my BMI tells me I’m “overweight” at 171 lbs for my height (5’9"), but my body fat is in the low teens. According to that chart, I’m well into the “large frame” area, but most “frame” measurements peg me as high medium.
I have a suspicion that most of these charts and tables aren’t really based on statistically valid information. They probably just polled 3 people at their local gym on what they think good weight ranges would be.
Is there any chart that takes into account shoulder width as well. Or other such body-type measurements. I feel discouraged when I supposedly should be in the same weight category as a wimpy guy with 18 inches from shoulder to shoulder.
BMI almost always comes with a disclaimer against exactly what you’re talking about. Special non-fat cases (like any decently fit person) shouldn’t even be worried about BMI.
For your average joe BMI gives you a general idea of overall health (average joe American in this case is probably already overweight). Mine is probably a little too low (24.5) mostly due to a recent fever that took 10 lbs off me in 2 days
You have to be very cautious when making statements about individuals using population data. Give me a group of 10,000 Americans selected at random and I’ll bet good money that the ones classified as unhealthy by BMI will die sooner than the ones who aren’t. Give me one guy selected at random, and all bets are off.
I know we’ve had some fairly enlightening threads on this in the past, but since you can’t search for BMI, I’m having trouble finding anything.
i’m around 6 feet (183cm) and the last time I checked I weighed 210 or there abouts and my body fat is around 13%. According to that chart I’m very overweight.
According to most charts, that’s an acceptable body fat percentage (here) but I’m still not really sure what to think.
