Obese
The other day, I was at the doctor (routine visit, all is fine, in case you’re worried). As is usually the case, the nurse weighed me, took my blood pressure and asked me a series of health-related questions. After she left the room, I was left to my own devices while I waited for the doctor.
As I am wont to do, I perused the informational posters the doctor had around the room. One of the posters hanging on the door to some cabinets was a weight, height, body mass index chart. At 5′2 and 130 pounds, I was on the verge of being considered obese, according to this chart.
I’m sorry, obese?
It sort of freaked me out. I mean, I know I would like to lose another 5-10 pounds to get back to a weight where I feel completely comfortable. But, I’m a far cry from being obese. It made me wonder: in a society that has such a huge problem with eating disorders and body image, how do rankings like these help?
On the flip side, in a society that has such a huge problem with obesity, if I am to be considered *almost* obese, that means there are a huge number of people who are considered obese. Given the range of obesity, how does one define the health risks that come with the different categories of being obese (in other words, I’d argue that my health risks are quite low whereas someone my height weighing 100 pounds more than me has many greater risks).
Anyway, it just got me thinking. What are your thoughts – is that definition of obese helpful or hurtful to a society like ours, knowing the full spectrum of body image and health issues we face?
November 24th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Yeah – regardless to what that chart say, I would not put you in the “obese” category.
Personally, I feel obese is more than just a height to weight ratio. Sure, when someone is 400+ pounds, they are obese. And, possibly a 5′2″ woman who weighs almost 200 pounds and doesn’t exercise, is completely lazy and nasty and eats like crap and has a lot of health issues? Sure, one might say she’s obese.
But what is it considered when it’s a 5′2″ woman and she weighs almost 200 pounds and is healthy (meaning, no diabetes, high blood pressure, all those things that “obese” people have to deal with)? What if she exercises regularly and eats healthily but is still having trouble getting down to that “acceptable” weight for her height? Is that woman obese? Maybe according to the chart but I don’t perceive that as obese.
See, that last woman I wrote about? She’s basically me. And even though the scale and that chart tell me I’m obese, I don’t feel obese. And I kind of feel that’s what’s important. Granted, I didn’t start having to deal with weight issues until I was an adult so maybe that’s part of it.
But to answer your question, I wish I could give you a solid yes or no to whether I feel this definition is helping or hurting but it’s just not that black and white. (Libra alert!) On one hand, I think it’s good that we are aware of a potential problem for our youth. But at the same time, I fear that it is causing our youth to potentially worry unnecessarily about being fat. I think it’s great when kids eat healthily and I’m personally raising my son to do so. But it’s not normal for a 9-11 year old to refuse a cupcake because “it has too many calories”. Yeah, you know what? For a 30 year old, it does because it’s going to take them a long time to work off those calories. But a 9-11 year old? They burn those calories just by breathing. I know, an exaggeration but you get what I mean. I don’t know but I think it’s important to educate about good choices rather than just saying “if you’re this tall and weigh this much, you’re obese.” Teach our youth that you can’t eat a whole dozen cupcakes but one is alright once in awhile.
Anyway, sorry about the book here. I have very strong opinions on this particular subject. Hopefully what I wrote makes sense!
November 24th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I think it is hurtful in many cases. Take my mom, for instance. She is the short one in our family, which is kind of funny since she’s 5′6″. Anyway, over the past several years she took control of her eating habits and began exercising and has dropped I’d say at least 100 pounds. I was so proud of her at first, but now it’s become an obsession for her. I told my dad I thought she needed to stop losing and start maintaining, and he said, “Well, technically, she’s considered obese.” It really bothered me to hear him say that, and I sure hope he isn’t saying it to her! I don’t think she will look as good if she loses more weight, but according to whatever source they are using, she still has a long way to go. I wish she could just celebrate the fact that she is now living a healthy lifestyle and leave it at that.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:26 am
I have a bee in my bonnet over this issue because though half of me is (usa) size 10, I am ‘obese’ because I have giant man muscles. Granted, my tummy is certainly fat and I could easily lose 40lb (which I constantly work on) but I will never make it down to the correct bmi for my height, it just isnt possible without me being malnourished or anorexic (I know this because my sisters with the same build tried it and when they FINALLY scraped into the ‘normal’ weight scale, the doc took one look at them and demanded they put on weight). When I lose another 10lb I will become ‘fat’ on the scale, now there’s some motivation to lose weight lol!
Neither your sex nor body type are taken into consideration on the BMI scale and that’s very damaging emotionally for people like me.
Some of us can never reach that scale. I’m fit, I exercise six days a week. I do personal training sessions, dance classes, kayak, swim, skip etc…but all the doctors care about is the number on the scales. It’s wrong and it’s cruel and it’s damaging.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:27 am
I totally agree with where you’re coming from! According to my height and weight, I’m borderline overweight. . . Grrrrr……. seriously? And like you, I’ve realized just how many in our society are in fact overweight and even obese.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:32 am
I work in the public health field and felt I needed to comment on this topic.
For starters, using BMI to measure “health” is just one of many factors that should be taken into account. It is not an exact science and organizations that endorse BMI, such as CDC and NIH, say the following, “At an individual level, BMI can be used as a screening tool but is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual. A trained healthcare provider should perform appropriate health assessments in order to evaluate an individual’s health status and risks.”
What BMI can be used for is to show trends over time. In 1991, NO state had an obesity rate above 20 percent, whereas today, Colorado is the ONLY state that remains below 20 percent (at 18.9%).
I agree that BMI can look like a terrible mechanism to measure health on an individual basis, but when taking the whole population into account, it shows that something is going on with the health of our nation that is not a positive change.
Finally, I wanted to point out that either the chart at your Doctor’s office was not based on the nationally accepted BMI charts, or you misread it. At 5′2″ and 130 you fall in the healthy weight range with a BMI of 23.8. Underweight is considered a BMI of below 18.5, healthy weight is 18.5 – 24.9, overweight is 25.0 – 29.9, and obese is 30.0 and above. Based on your BMI you fall well within healthy weight, and at worst are on the edge of being “overweight” not “obese” — two very different situations.
I hope this was somewhat helpful!
November 24th, 2009 at 9:35 am
That’s ridiculous, Nilsa. I think that these guidelines are good, I mean they obviously help doctors with a short hand that can get the attention of a patient, but borderline obese? That’s as much of a joke as me being borderline underweight.
As ever, what’s important is how you feel in your body, how it moves for you, and how you feel about it. If you’re healthy & happy that should be the end of the story. And where is their happiness & life quality chart, anyway? I bet that if they took that into account they would have a much better read on who was healthy & who was sick.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I’m with SM on this. I think the obesity chart is not helping things. Do people need to eat right, exercise and prioritize healthy living? YES! If a person is 5′2″ and 150 or 175lbs does that mean she’s obese? Charts would say so. But what if you’ve got a clean bill of health and take care of yourself? It just feels like an ideal that is unattainable. I’ve been 135lbs at my thinnest (I’m barely 5′3″) and it felt too thin for me. I would happily live out the rest of my days at 150-160lbs.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:59 am
I’m considered almost obese myself. I know that I am somewhat overweight, but obese I am not. I also know that I don’t give much of a crap about that. I know what all the studies say – that the bmi is just ONE indicator that there might be something not quite right. Just one. I would never base my healthiness on one chart. However, I do know that other people don’t surf the internet as much as I do to learn that the bmi is not the end all be all of weight charts. That’s when it becomes hurtful. When someone doesn’t have all the facts.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:02 am
What!? I’m in shock! That seems like it would really give us all a bit more of a complex than we had before? I mean, like others have said I can see that it might help a doctor figure out why a patient might be dealing with certain illnesses or be at risk for certain things but I hardly can imagine that being an borderline obese weight. Did you ask your doctor about it? I’d be curious to see what they had to say.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:30 am
I really hate the BMI chart. It doesn’t take into account your frame at all (not to mention health history or family history or any of those things). I tend to fall on the opposite side, the chart says I’m within my target weight range, but I know I’m carrying too much weight for my frame. I know, I risk getting slapped with a comment like that, people automatically assume that I’m bragging about how skinny I am or fishing for compliments. It’s not the case, I know my body and I know what feels right to me, and that’s not where I’m at now. And I’m working to change that.
I just don’t think something as simple as height and weight are good indicators of health. Yeah, I wear size 6-8, but I am NOT in good shape at all. My 200+ lb. brother did a 4 mile race on Saturday and turned around and did a 26 minute 5k on Sunday. I wouldn’t be able to manage that. I generally shy away from the “everyone’s a special unique snowflake” mentality that seems to be the thing now, but I really think in this case the experts need to treat us as snowflakes and stop trying to fit everyone into the same bracket on the same chart.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:35 am
back in the day when i was 130 lbs (i’m also 5 2) i saw something like that and thought wtf? I’m almost obese. no effin way. so now that i’ve gained a good 30 lbs on top of that after the baby…i’ve passed the obese mark. and honestly, i don’t consider that obese! when i think of obese i think of people who have to use scooters because they can’t walk or people that are confined to beds because of their weight. i quit believing or accepting that crap long ago. eff that. LOL
November 24th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Sheesh! Really?
Short story: The other night I was working out with my BF who is a personal trainer. I weighed myself and was really bugged by what the scale said. Being the sweet man he is, he took the time to help me put things into perspective telling me that it was just a number and what really mattered is how I felt about myself. Do I like the way I look? Do I feel healthy?
Because really, what does that number know? It doesn’t take into account how muscular or not-muscular a person is. Everyone knows their own body and what is right for them. They know if they are holding on to a few extra pounds or if they would be happier with a slimmer waist line – especially you! You are like the healthiest person I know! You KNOW what you would like your body to look like and you know what is healthy for YOU!
Enough of my soap box.
Hope you are having a great vaca.
PS – the equality in relationships post is finally up on my site!
November 24th, 2009 at 11:05 am
That is straight crazy. You are NOT obese.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I hate BMI. It is so incomplete and very rigid. In fact apparently they reduced the BMI that was in the “normal” category a few years ago? Everyone has different body and bone structure. This is why the whole “obesity epidemic” bothers me because it includes people with a BMI of 31 who don’t need to lose weight, really, or maybe just a few pounds. So when everyone talks about how such a huuuuuge percentage of Americans is obese, they’re including people not much bigger than you. And that’s crazy, in my opinion. Why do we have to talk about a height to weight ratio instead of talking about HEALTH? Why do we take this flawed number as an indicator that stands in for ACTUAL health indicators? It drives me CRAZY.
Have you seen Kate Harding’s BMI project? So enlightening. http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/
November 24th, 2009 at 11:52 am
FYI, though, something was wrong with that chart. If you’re 5′2″ and 130 pounds, your BMI is 23.8. “Normal” goes up to 24.9, and “obese” starts at 30. See http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi
November 24th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I generally think that those charts are fine for most Americans. But when they were stressing those numbers in med school, and I saw that I also qualified for almost obese, I freaked out. I asked the instructor after class what the deal was because I clearly was not even close to obese.
She said that most people don’t have as much muscle as I (and likely you) do and that someone who could do an hour of kickboxing or running or (insert activity here) can’t be obese. Most people just aren’t that “dense” body-wise (I am also dense in the head, but that’s neither here nor there), which makes those charts ok for the majority of people in the bell shaped curve. But we’re outliers. And superwomen.
Done.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
i don’t think those charts and measurements are helpful at all. why not update those suckers to be more realistic? why not have pictures of healthy people rather than numbers? why is it always about the number?
(i say this as i find myself focusing on the number more often than i’d like. but you gotta wonder, would we be so obsessed about it if these charts weren’t so in-your-face all of the time?)
November 24th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
This is ridiculous – charts, numbers, labels – that don’t take body type, activity level or other health measures into consideration. I remember a friend’s husband telling me a few years back that he was considered obese according to his height/weight ratio and I was flabbergasted. Wouldn’t most body builders be considered obese if we just looked at their height and weight, too?
Obesity – and maybe anorexia diagnoses for that matter – should factor in overall health, not just what the scale and the yardstick say.
November 24th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Funny you mention that because I was just at the doctor’s office the other day and saw a similar chart that got me thinking, too. When I was in college I gained the obligatory Freshman Fifteen and measured in one day at the doctor’s at 135 (I am 5′3″). I looked at at chart like the one you saw and noticed that I was in the upper percentile or “normal” weight. This had me worried because I have always been quite a little twig and never saw myself as anything other. The chart/weigh-in experience gave me quite a complex and left me feeling really overwhelmed and powerless.
Last week I was at a gas station with one of those “Find your accurate weight” machines in the bathroom. Feeling confident that I know my weight (give or take a few ounces depending on what I have eaten throughout the day), I just looked at the “averages” chart on the top of the scale. Apparently my current weight (which is a solid 20 lbs less than when I weighed in as a college Freshman – it’s taken me this long to lose the weight I gained in that one year!), my weight wasn’t even on the chart! Which means I am nothing more than a weight phantom according to this chart… wtf?
So I am with you on the confusion of these scales. Though of course the one that said I was near obese was at a doctor’s office and the one that didn’t even have me in the 5′3″ range was at a gas station ;) And, like you said, if being 5′0″ and 130 is borderline obese, then we are all in a hell of a lotta trouble. Maybe it’s a scare tactic?
November 24th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I think I’ve said this before, but I gained ten pounds (of muscle) when I was working out once or twice a day to train for a little sprint triathlon. The extra ten pounds bumped me up one in the BMI category (obviously). So while spending an hour or two running, biking, and/or swimming 6 days/week, I got less healthy according to the chart. Sure.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
So we’ve obviously never met, but I’ve seen photos of you and I’m trying to picture you in relation to me since I’m only 2 inches taller than you and only 5 lbs. lighter. There’s just no way either of us are even CLOSE to being obese. I wouldn’t even throw out “overweight” as a category choice.
Whatever scale you were looking at is obviously jacked. But you’re right that it does beg the question about body image and what really is healthy. And if you and I aren’t healthy, then who is?
November 24th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I can run 6 miles and am considered VERY obese still. The word is just plain rude.
November 25th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Ugh. I am all for being healthy, but the number thing gets so ridiculous. I stopped working out a couple months ago when my freelance work schedule conflicted with my favorite yoga classes. As soon as I stopped exercising, I lost my appetite. So…I’ve lost a little weight. I may be thinner and in a more normal weight range now, but I am definitely not healthier. I got winded just walking up the stairs at the gym today. Numbers Schmumbers.
November 25th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
The scale doesn’t distinguish between fat and muscle. Not to mention that muscle is denser than fat. Any chart that oversimplifies that much is not helpful.
November 27th, 2009 at 9:51 am
If you’re obese, I am so fooked.
I don’t buy into those charts and other weights and standards that compare one human to another instead of taking into account us as individuals. You realize that Brian Urlacher is practically “morbidly obese” by these standards? Does it matter that he has 6% body fat? No. Not at all.
November 29th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
i’m “technically” obese and it doesn’t seem right. i think that’s why they started throwing “morbidly” in front of obese now.
December 13th, 2009 at 9:40 am
um WOW. Yes definitely NOT obese!!! You are like… TINY, pocket-sized, even! Those charts don’t take into account a lot of things- numbers don’t mean everything. I wouldn’t stress ;)