foodconsumer.org

Overweight may extend lifespan?

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:00:00 +0000

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Gabe

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:25:32 +0000

The BMI is broken! That's what this study affirms. Nothing more. The BMI index has a tendency to call perfectly healthy people overweight. You can't decide how much someone should weigh based on their height alone!

Example: I weigh 175 pounds, am 5'11", 26 years old, and am in great physical shape. I train Brazillian Jiu Jitsu for 4-6 hours per week and eat healthily. I could easily put on 15-20 pounds of muscle if i started power-lifting. As it stands now, I have nearly no excess body fat. According to the BMI, however, if I gain 5 or 10 more pounds, I'll be officially overweight. What a load of BS!

Robin

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:47:57 +0000

It could just be that the fatter people lived longer on their own body weight while the thin were not fed enough food because they could or did not do it for themselves.

Josh

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:01:31 +0000

I'm not overweight - just saving up excess stores for the apocalypse.

Benjamen

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:46:48 +0000

I am pretty thin, and i am considered over weight. Anyone who has a big structure, i.e. big shoulders, will be tending towards overweight according to the BMI.

One of the reasons why the Maori are nearly always overweight. They are shorter but have the same thickness.

Satyr Icon

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:47:26 +0000

The difference between a survey and actual research findings [based on hypotheses] is that the survey merely highlights the observables, but does not provide an explanation, or reasons why this is happening. Surveys mean little. One can dig deeper into survey results and find plenty of other findings, including quite the contradictory finding pending on interpretation. I'm not trying to undermine the value of surveys, but surveys simply don't tell us WHY these things are happening. For that, real research is required.

Also, in this article, the BMI units should be per cubic meter, not square meter. Also agree with Gabe that BMI's are too crude for research or study purposes.