Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> > > Yes, person A may eat all the burgers and twinkies, because he's going to the gym all the time

> One major problem with the standard BMI definitions is that any athlete in a sport that vaguely requires muscles will be classed as 'overweight' or 'obese'.

Oh, what a major problem it is for the vast majority of overweight people changing their diet and lifestyle. This really is the most important point they have to keep in mind: BMI don't apply to athletes who regularly train and practice. What a bummer.

/s



My BMI is 30.1, which is obese. With a 36' waist, and usually fitting pretty comfortably in to an American size M t-shirt, I am a little overweight, but BMI is not a helpful measurement for any kind of diagnostic for me. I lift the occasional heavy thing, but an athlete I am not.


So you are overweight and your BMI correlates (and a single data point).

For what it's worth I used to wear EU M t-shirts a decade ago and I haven't put on weight. But the same M t-shirt sold these days is way slimmer than my old t-shirts.


BMI doesn't apply to all non-athletes either. My anecdotal evidence is that a few years back, my BMI was below average while I was clearly overweight.


But it's still anecdotal. BMI is a pretty good indicator of obesity for the general population.


You seem to have misunderstood my point.

The general rule that muscle strength is positive for health applies to non-athletes just as well.


I am rebutting the point that BMI is useless because it doesn't always work as intended.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: