Anyone who does not live under a rock knows how the BMI is used to distort the self image of people, especially women, by creating false standards of what is "normal." But many may not realize just how badly these standards distort our perception of our bodies. I see post after post on this site of women who are clearly average being made to feel like they are too fat because the BMI has created a false notion of what normal is.
To help debunk this falsehood, I have used a tool to create some side by side comparisons of what the BMI portrays as normal, versus the reality (in this case for a 20 year old female).
First, let us look at the BMI versus Reality for the 50th percentile, or in other words the mean.
Second, let us look at the 85th percentile, which the BMI uses as the cutoff for labeling people "overweight."
As you can see the BMI does not correspond to what is actually normal and thus it represents only a tool to marginalize and make people feel worse about their bodies.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this demo and how it changes your perceptions of what is "normal" (and for anyone thinking of posting something fat-phobic, bigoted, or hateful your comments will be removed and you will be reported)
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