The FastDay Forum

I don't think anyone is claiming to be superior but if you don't have high blood pressure, you don't have high blood sugar or high cholestorol and you are reasonably fit why would you be worried if your BMI was marginally above normal and, more importantly, would you start taking medication, on the basis that a statistic shows you just might get one of these conditions?

Statistically a high BMI is an indicator that people are carrying a high percentage of fat which is obviously unhealthy. The same cannot be said about individuals whoes body composition tends more towards muscle than fat.

Statistically, people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol live longer than teetotalers. Can this be correct? The teetotalers can include people who don't drink due to ill health, the terminally ill, people from poorer sections of society whoes cultural and religious beliefs prevent them from drinking alcohol.

Statistically, people who skip breakfast are less healthy and more overweight than people who do eat breakfast. Breakfast skippers include people who can't be bothered to make breakfast but who have a dohnut at 11:00. They may also be people who are overweight and have just started on a diet. Therefore, to the statistician the breakfast skippers are overweight whereas the breakfast eaters are more healthy.

The medical profession need to treat people as individuals rather than statistics

I don't think that we're disagreeing drastically here, ken. I certainly wouldn't disagree that it's a very good idea to get yourself into the normal/healthy range (it's what I'm doing!), and I'm not advocating dismissing BMI out of hand. It's just that once you get below a BMI of 25, I think that you should then start looking at yourself more carefully and trying to figure out where your body fits into the distribution, not fixating on a single BMI number.

Basically you need to understand (as I think we both do) how to use BMI as a tool, but that does imply a basic understanding of statistics that many people don't have.

I haven't said that BMI should be ignored. What I have said is that it is only one among a number of indicators towards general health and well being. It is mitigated by factors such as body composition and level of activity and that is a criticism which comes from within the medical profession.

Someone who carries very little muscle but a lot of fat, especially around the abdominal area and does very little exercise is likely to have a much higher risk than someone who is fairly toned, with a slim waist and who takes part in some exercise even if it is as a 'weekend athlete'.

It is possible that both have the same BMI but it is a fair bet that the first type has higher BP,higher cholesterol, Higher blood glucose / insulin resistance than the second type.

If your not a body builder or a professional rugby player and you have a BMI of 29 then that would be a cause for concern because a larger than healthy percentage of that mass is obviously going to be fat. On the other hand if you have a BMI of 26 and you're fairly fit, toned and active then it's not such a problem.

It's all a matter of scale...a 'weekend athlete' with a BMI of 29 would have a problem, whereas a bodybuilder, highly trained athlete (professional rugby player) wouldn't. However, the same weekend athlete with a BMI of 26 probably wouldn't find themselves at death's door anytime soon.

My main aim is to achieve a waist measurement of 32 inches. I think that is far more significant than achieving a sub 25 BMI although the lower BMI may well be a function of a lower waist measurement.