I came across this today and wanted to share. It's a series of photos of people with their weight classification (underweight, normal, overweight, etc.). It was really interesting to look at one person labeled obese by their BMI who appeared smaller than another person labeled overweight. That happened several times throughout the show.
The slideshow is a good visual reminder of the limitations of BMI numbers. There is no way to take things like muscle vs. fat into account and the numbers don't reflect actual function the way numbers like blood pressure or blood sugar do.
-------------------- “I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives but as nouns.” --Elizabeth Cady Stanton Posts: 3641 | From: Truckee, CA, US | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
That was very interesting, thanks for sharing. I was surprised at some of the people who were labeled "overweight". In a class I took last semester we spent a whole unit looking at American views of overweight, and read several articles about how what's more of a problem than being overweight or obese is the yo-yo dieting that often results.
Posts: 213 | From: Spain | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
I gotta say I'm a bit suspicious about the accuracy of their results on the BMI test. Did they state it was really the true result they got on the BMI test and not some results they made up themselves ?
Although I'm fully aware than BMI testing isn't perfect given it doesn't take into account the bone bass or whether it's muscle or fat, I never though it could be that innacurate this often. I was really shocked to see the results some people got from it.
Some people for example got labeled overweight and I'd never labeled them as such just by looking at them. Also I've always heard that photos make people look bigger than in real so if it is indeed true I suppose the innacuracy would be even more obvious if we saw those people in real life instead of on photos. it's just even more shocking.
posted
Hmm. It seemed pretty accurate to me. There were a few that were surprising, but mostly the people that they said were overweight did seem a little on the chubby side. The people they said were obese definitely seemed that way as well.
Posts: 9 | From: mass | Registered: Jun 2007
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