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Is BMI mostly accurate?
- 364 opinions shared on Health & Fitness topic.
No.
BMI was introduced during the war when rations and many people were army ready. Times have changed. Not just food and active ness but people are taller nowadays too.
BMI is a GUIDE and this is something medics especially love to forget. When I was at my slimmest the medics would say “well you look ok, pop on the scales” “gosh you’re heavy!” And measured me and I was above. But they all went “... but your slim” now I’m overweight they adore telling me fat in multiple ways. At my peak I was muscled and I live on a hill so my legs especially are strong. The medics refuse to accept any up to date knowledge so I’m eternally “fucking massive” on the bmi scale
Most Helpful Opinions
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No. Historically it wasn't even created to be a measure of ideal body weight; it was created as more of a compilation of averages. Also, it only takes into account height and weight. It doesn't differentiate between weight from muscle or weight from fat. Many athletes and weight lifters are considered obese based on BMI but have very low body fat percentages. My ideal weight based on body fat percentage is overweight per the BMI. I'm 5'3," but I could never weight what the BMI says I should unless I starved myself.
BMI is mostly accurate.
BMI is less accurate the more your body shape deviates from the median, particularly, how short/tall you are.
Very short people have to *add* points to their BMI, while very tall people have to subtract points from their BMI.
You can always look for a calculator online that adjusts the BMI for height and ethnicity.
It will also be inaccurate if you have more muscle mass than the average person, but that only applies to people who spend a lot of time in the gym.
A person who does not do strength exercises regularly is going to have average muscle mass.
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It's mostly accurate for the average person. For someone who trains and has a lot of muscle on their frame not so much. I have a BMI of 27.5 putting me firmly in the overweight category, but I'm at about 15% bodyfat, which isn't "ripped" but it's not high.
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18Opinion
- 1.1K opinions shared on Health & Fitness topic.
Too many variables, especially for weightlifters and serious athletes. Water displacement test is the gold standard.
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Not really. It doesn’t take a lot of things into account, especially muscle and fat content which says a lot about whether or not you’re actually healthy. Since muscle weighs should more than fat, if you have a lot of muscle your BMI could indicate that you’re overweight or even obese.
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Nope. The more average you are the better it is. If you’re very tall, have a large frame and a lot of muscle it thinks you’re a fat ass. If you are very short and petite it thinks you’re a starving Somalian… If you’re average height and average build it’s a reasonable estimate.
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No as it doesn't take into account muscle to fat ratio. Most body builders would be considered morbidly obese.
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BMI assumes average muscle mass. Since females are less likely to deviate from average muscle mass than men, it is more accurate for them, but still not entirely accurate.
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No. There are people at my gym with less than 5% body fat who would be called obese if they went by BMI.
- 2K opinions shared on Health & Fitness topic.
Its good estimate based on average proportions. It won't be good outliers
Mainly super short. Super tall. High muscle density. Super low muscle density
But for the majority yes its fine -
Yes it is accurate, but not a perfect measure. If someone weighs more bc they are muscular, it isn't the same as being fat and weighing the same.
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What is the question? Is it accurate how its decided? Whether its accurate in what range of weight you're in?
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No, not at all, if what you mean by "accurate" an accurate measurement of body fat percentage. It's simply height divided by weight. That's all. So it's incredibly outdated and needs to be done away with.
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Absolutely not. For example bodybuilders have horrible BMIs, because muscles weight more than fat.
Body-fat percentage is a way better indicator (as long as you don't compare women to men). -
BMI is the most accurate measure for healthy weight, since it takes into consideration your height and mass distribution.
- 419 opinions shared on Health & Fitness topic.
No I think they should do more accurate tests like body fat and distribution of fat, and blood tests etc.
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It can work well for guys, but it's not so much for girls because girls have higher body shape variety compared to guys.
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No, some people are more muscular and muscles weigh more then fat
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Muscle weights more than fat and the BMI doesn't take that into account.
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Because muscle weighs more than fat, people who are very muscular will have a higher BMI which may inaccurately classify them as overweight or obese.
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My BMI is 16.2, which is accurate because I have no muscle
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Yes, it's accurate. But in many cases it's also meaningless.
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Well doesn't it stand for :Bmi's Mostly Inaccurate? Lol
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