Comments on: Normal Weight Obesity; Or, Why the BMI Sucks As An Individual Measurement Tool http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/04/17/normal-weight-obesity-or-why-the-bmi-sucks-as-an-individual-measurement-tool/ Respect Your Food. Respect Yourself. Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:55:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Tony K http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/04/17/normal-weight-obesity-or-why-the-bmi-sucks-as-an-individual-measurement-tool/#comment-5203 Tony K Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:24:21 +0000 http://www.modernforager.com/blog/?p=630#comment-5203 I remember my Dad calling me (he was a physicain ) and telling me that my BMI was too high and that I should lose weight. I pointed out to him that BMI is really a poor proxy for body fat percentage and that that is what I was aiming for. He told me I didn't know what I was talking about. I finally pointed out to him that Walter Payton, the great Chicago Bears running back was 5'10" and 210# at the peak of his careeer. He was carrying, I don't know, maybe 7% bodyfat. Nobody ever would have called him obese, yet he was the same size as I was at the time. My dad told me I needed to lose weight, I said I needed to lose fat. Anyway, I'm afraid that insurance companies are going to glom onto BMI and start using it as a metric to increase rates. That would be major suckage. I remember my Dad calling me (he was a physicain ) and telling me that my BMI was too high and that I should lose weight.

I pointed out to him that BMI is really a poor proxy for body fat percentage and that that is what I was aiming for.

He told me I didn’t know what I was talking about.

I finally pointed out to him that Walter Payton, the great Chicago Bears running back was 5′10″ and 210# at the peak of his careeer. He was carrying, I don’t know, maybe 7% bodyfat. Nobody ever would have called him obese, yet he was the same size as I was at the time. My dad told me I needed to lose weight, I said I needed to lose fat.

Anyway, I’m afraid that insurance companies are going to glom onto BMI and start using it as a metric to increase rates. That would be major suckage.

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