Governmetnt Will Be Tracking B.M.I. by 2014

[twa]

Next patient please.

5'10 225

Not a weight lifter nor gym rat

Most of America would benefit if they were in my physical condition(except for the knees:silly:)

Obese my ass (which is rather tight;))

CDC says

Your BMI is 32.3, indicating your weight is in the Obese category for adults of your height.For your height, a normal weight range would be from 129 to 174 pounds.

[mbws]

Our Surgeon General isn't exactly svelte.

So I would not worry about anyone being forced to knock off the Twinkies while she's around.

~Bang

Surgeon General? I thought that was our next backup right guard.

[dockeryfan]

BMI is not bogus. In fact, it is a useful health measurement for the vast majority of the population. The people you are describing fall within the extremely small percentage of the population where the BMI would not be an accurate measurement.

It really isn't that useful a health measurement at all, actually.

I think it was about 5 years ago in JAMA, using BMI something like 97 percent of all nfl players were overweight, and 50 percent were obese.

What does it mean? Doctors use BMI as an indicator of overall health, but these players are actually in quite good health. A lot of these players have very low fat levels, but BMI does not reflect that.

Kobe Bryant is technically overweight. Lebron James the same.

It doesn't take into account bone mass, muscle mass, or even more importantly, where the fat is located.

A better indicator for me (for the average person) is waist to hip ratio. If I see truncal obesity, I know they are at higher risk for cardiovascular dz and diabetes. It's much more valuable to track that, IMO.

[War Paint]

Good they should. People in this country are becoming fat asses.

Yeah, the government should be watching us like hawks! Who needs freedom anyways! We are property of the bankers!

[Special K]

It really isn't that useful a health measurement at all, actually.

I think it was about 5 years ago in JAMA, using BMI something like 97 percent of all nfl players were overweight, and 50 percent were obese.

What does it mean? Doctors use BMI as an indicator of overall health, but these players are actually in quite good health. A lot of these players have very low fat levels, but BMI does not reflect that.

Kobe Bryant is technically overweight. Lebron James the same.

It doesn't take into account bone mass, muscle mass, or even more importantly, where the fat is located.

A better indicator for me (for the average person) is waist to hip ratio. If I see truncal obesity, I know they are at higher risk for cardiovascular dz and diabetes. It's much more valuable to track that, IMO.

Again, please reread what I've said at least 3 times in this thread. ATHLETES ARE IN A SMALL PERCENTAGE where BMI is NOT AS USEFUL.

I am very well aware of what BMI does and does not measure. I work with it every day. Just like I do blood pressure, and pulse rate, heart sounds, respiratory rates, temperature, and a bazillion other measurements.

There are a few things that are happening here, IMO:

1) People are extremely sensitive about their weight in our society. You can't say boo to them without them taking offense. You can tell them much worse things like "Hey your BP is 195/100, you're about to stroke out right in front of me!" and they look at you like you're talking about the weather (by the way, I never tell someone they're about to stroke out in front of me, I just threw that in for added effect). The second the subject of weight is broached, holy ****, I might as well just have insulted every living member of their family and spit on them, I might get a better response.

Personally, I wish people would stop getting so butt hurt about their weight and look at it as a medical issue and address it. Or at least, when healthcare workers bring up the issue to them, not treat us like crap and make up 5 million excuses as to the reason this is (we've heard them all before, and then some). rant off/

2) People are not quite understanding correctly what BMI is used for. It's used to help make up a WHOLE PICTURE of a person's health. Your doctor isn't dumb. Nor is s/he lazy. They don't just look at a BMI number and say "whelp, that's it. You're obese, no two ways about it." No, they look at that in conjuction with other factors, activity level, muscle tone, etc. Clearly, if Kob Bryant comes into the office, the doc isn't going to lcall him a "fat ass" and put him on an emergency liquid diet or something stupid like that.

3) When the CDC starts telling us to disregard the medical literature on BMI as a health indicator for the average person and do things like WHR, we'll do that. Until then, or until insurances or patients want to pay for DEXA scans, I think it's going to be that way for awhile.

[War Paint]

I wonder if the government is going to lock down on the food corporations that put harmful chemicals in our food supply? I wonder if they are going to order corporations to remove high fructose corn syrup from our food which causes obesity? Probably not considering corporations and elite bankers run the country.

[War Paint]

Good. Obese people should be taxed more to help cover their share of universal health care.

Yeah, blame the people, not the corporations that put the chemicals such as MSG and high fructose corn syrup in our food supply. Brilliant! You should become a lobbyist.

[jnhay]

I wonder if the government is going to lock down on the food corporations that put harmful chemicals in our food supply? I wonder if they are going to order corporations to remove high fructose corn syrup from our food which causes obesity? Probably not considering corporations and elite bankers run the country.

No one is going to be obese because they consume HFCS.

[War Paint]

No one is going to be obese because they consume HFCS.

Perhaps you should google HFCS before commenting.

[jnhay]

Perhaps you should google HFCS before commenting.

So if I exercise and consume within a reasonable amount of calories, I'll still be obese because I'm consuming HFCS. No. HFCS doesn't cause obesity, if anything it contributes to it at a much lower level than excessive eating and lack of exercise.

[Special K]

Yeah, blame the people, not the corporations that put the chemicals such as MSG and high fructose corn syrup in our food supply. Brilliant! You should become a lobbyist.

Lotta anger and deflection of responsiblity in your posts, buddy.

While HFCS is not healthy, it takes multiple factors for an individual to become obese. These factors include, but are not limited to, high caloric intake and sedentary lifestyle....then there are other things like drug abuse, etc.

[dockeryfan]

Again, please reread what I've said at least 3 times in this thread. ATHLETES ARE IN A SMALL PERCENTAGE where BMI is NOT AS USEFUL.

I am very well aware of what BMI does and does not measure. I work with it every day. Just like I do blood pressure, and pulse rate, heart sounds, respiratory rates, temperature, and a bazillion other measurements.

There are a few things that are happening here, IMO:

1) People are extremely sensitive about their weight in our society. You can't say boo to them without them taking offense. You can tell them much worse things like "Hey your BP is 195/100, you're about to stroke out right in front of me!" and they look at you like you're talking about the weather (by the way, I never tell someone they're about to stroke out in front of me, I just threw that in for added effect). The second the subject of weight is broached, holy ****, I might as well just have insulted every living member of their family and spit on them, I might get a better response.

Personally, I wish people would stop getting so butt hurt about their weight and look at it as a medical issue and address it. Or at least, when healthcare workers bring up the issue to them, not treat us like crap and make up 5 million excuses as to the reason this is (we've heard them all before, and then some). rant off/

2) People are not quite understanding correctly what BMI is used for. It's used to help make up a WHOLE PICTURE of a person's health. Your doctor isn't dumb. Nor is s/he lazy. They don't just look at a BMI number and say "whelp, that's it. You're obese, no two ways about it." No, they look at that in conjuction with other factors, activity level, muscle tone, etc. Clearly, if Kob Bryant comes into the office, the doc isn't going to lcall him a "fat ass" and put him on an emergency liquid diet or something stupid like that.

3) When the CDC starts telling us to disregard the medical literature on BMI as a health indicator for the average person and do things like WHR, we'll do that. Until then, or until insurances or patients want to pay for DEXA scans, I think it's going to be that way for awhile.

You want to tell them they are fat, I don't have a problem with that.

Honestly, you sound like every other early graduate of Med school I have ever met. Work in this field for a while, then you will realize that using BMI is a waste of time. It does not effectively track anything, and believe me I've tried. Plus, if you wait for the CDC to come around, you will be well behind the curve. Read the JAMA article. Read the study in Australia. DEXA scans? Please, that's an even bigger waste of funds to have the entire population get DEXA scans. As it is, tracking BMI will cost man hours and give us relatively nothing.

[War Paint]

So if I exercise and consume within a reasonable amount of calories, I'll still be obese because I'm consuming HFCS. No. HFCS doesn't cause obesity, if anything it contributes to it at a much lower level than excessive eating and lack of exercise.

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Nutrition/Food/high_fructose_corn_syrup_the_cause_of_obesity_epidemic_250310081.html

And for the record, I'm not obese. However, I'm sick of the hypocrisy from the establishment. If they truly cared about the health of the people, the chemicals put in our food would be banned. MSG, HFCS, sodium nitrates, etc....are linked to obesity, diabetes, cancers, etc.....

If you people can't see this is about control, then I don't know what to tell you.

[jnhay]

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Nutrition/Food/high_fructose_corn_syrup_the_cause_of_obesity_epidemic_250310081.html

And for the record, I'm not obese. However, I'm sick of the hypocrisy from the establishment. If they truly cared about the health of the people, the chemicals put in our food would be banned. MSG, HFCS, sodium nitrates, etc....are linked to obesity, diabetes, cancers, etc.....

If you people can't see this is about control, then I don't know what to tell you.

Your article agrees with the statement you quoted.

[hyphenatedbren]

Am I correct in assuming that if the government is serious about cracking down on obesity (and by monitoring BMI I assume they are) that they're also going to end the ridiculous subsidies for corn that motivate farmers to grow way, way too much corn resulting in high fructose corn syrup being overused?

[SkinsTerps26]

I have to respectfully disagree. BMI is totally bogus. I'm 5'8" tall and 175 lbs. Per BMI, I'm overweight bordering on obese which is FARRRR from the truth. I maintain a 33" waist and 42" chest which is pretty darn good.

My ideal weight according to BMI is between 145 and 150lbs. Are you kidding me??? I would be downright sickly at that weight. And I'm no super athlete. Yeah I try to keep in shape but I'm probably right around what you would thing of as average. So yeah, I will stand firm that the BMI is complete BS.

u sound fat to me

[Corcaigh]

BMI is not useless. It does not determine whether you are underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese.

It is a very quick and easy to apply SCREENING METHOD. If you fall outside normal range then further examination is warranted. In the case of a highly muscular professional athlete it's pretty easy to account for the extra mass.

Joe Public who scoffs at the value of the BMI as a screening tool because he's the same weight, height and BMI as Brock Lesnar is deluding himself.

[Burgold]

It's one tool. It doesn't present the complete picture, but it can aid in creating a quick snapshot or reference point.

[War Paint]

Your article agrees with the statement you quoted.

It also agrees with my statement. Not once did I say HFCS is the ONLY cause of obesity.

[Hubbs]

*scratches head*

Okay, everyone's probably aware of my libertarian tendencies, but, um, I tend to want as much of my medical information as possible to be in this national hospital database. Isn't that the point?

[twa]

It's one tool. It doesn't present the complete picture, but it can aid in creating a quick snapshot or reference point.

Yes, but if you rely too much on that one reference point you corrupt the data.

A picture is worth a thousand assumptions:pfft:

[Special K]

You want to tell them they are fat, I don't have a problem with that.

Honestly, you sound like every other early graduate of Med school I have ever met. Work in this field for a while, then you will realize that using BMI is a waste of time. It does not effectively track anything, and believe me I've tried. Plus, if you wait for the CDC to come around, you will be well behind the curve. Read the JAMA article. Read the study in Australia. DEXA scans? Please, that's an even bigger waste of funds to have the entire population get DEXA scans. As it is, tracking BMI will cost man hours and give us relatively nothing.

I actually don't tell patients they're "fat." In fact, I never address their BMI, unless they're pregnant. If they have a hig BMI at the onset of pregnancy, they automotically get a glucose tolerance test at the lab.

I've read plenty of articles about BMI, WHR, DEXA, and every other body mass type screening out there. I know what you are saying about WHR, trust me.

And of course DEXA isn't a reasonable screening procedure for the average person. I never suggested it was. Please reread my post. It's the most accurate however.

Glad to know that according to you, the CDC is "behind the times" in its medical advice

FWIW, which I'm sure it isn't much to you, BMI is actually an extremely quick measurement to get. When a patient checks in, we automatically get their weight. We have their height from their first visit. It takes less than 2 seconds to then look up their BMI on the chart on my desk. And they never even know! It gets charted and that's about it. Unless someone is morbidly obese and is having infertility problems, diabetes, massively high blood pressure, gestational diabetes or some other health issue, BMI and weight aren't ever even brought up in a conversation.

[Burgold]

Yes, but if you rely too much on that one reference point you corrupt the data.

A picture is worth a thousand assumptions:pfft:

Agreed, but those rough sketches are useful devices for putting you on the right track. They may not solve the mystery, but might give you a clue and the quicker you start down the trail after the bad guy the more likely you are to stop him before he does real harm.

[Corcaigh]

Yes, but if you rely too much on that one reference point you corrupt the data.

Who is relying too much on that one reference point?

My wife has a resting pulse below 50 bpm. Scans show thickening of the muscle walls and an enlarged heart. A blood test shows higher levels of muscle enzymes.

From those four reference points for the average person you'd think there's a high risk of heart failure or hyper tension. In fact she's an endurance athlete and so a doctor knows that these FOUR data points aren't of concern.

[PeterMP]

Okay, even if you think this, the BMI is bogus. LeBron, Dwight Howard, and Adrian Peterson are NOT overweight, and Ovechkin is NOT as overweight as one can be w/o being obese :no:

For the VAST MAJORITY of the population, BMI is fine.