They changed the healthy bmi!

I just thought this was interesting, I now noticed that a healthy bmi range starts at 18.2 now and not 18.5 on this site..which I think makes since considering I'm 18 years old so still young. Just pointing the change out and wondering if anyone else noticed too!

I noticed too, although for me, it used to say 20-25 was healthy, and now it says 18.5-24.9.

Which I think is consistent with the world health org standards, but I kinda liked that CC had a slightly higher range since there are so many people on here with a skewed perception of what "healthy" is.

I was wondering when it would change Lower.  For me a BMI above 20 doesn't look good.  Well, I am sick of hearing under 20 is too low being told to people.
18.2 sounds very nice to me!

i have to say that i do NOT think its a good idea.  im short, 5'3, and being at a bmi of even 19.8, i feel weak and unhealthy.  i dont think being a waif is healthy, not, not at all.

Well honestly every site I have ever seen has 18.5-24.99.  So I never listened to the # 20 anyways. 
I guess it depends where a person feels best at within the normal range.

To me a waif is like a bmi of under 16 and no that isn't healthy!

Original Post by agruskin:

i have to say that i do NOT think its a good idea.  im short, 6'3, and being at a bmi of even 19.8, i feel weak and unhealthy. 

luckily, your body is still your own, regardless of what CC says about "healthy" bmi.

i could care less what bracket a website chooses, but my bmi just dropped to 20.4, and i'm starting to feel close to being where i want to be.

im not starting to fight and congrats PG, a bmi of 20ish, awesome!  i dont think below that gives a person enough umm, stregnth, health, unless theyre maybe a bodybuilder and then bmi isnt accurate, i think, im no expert, everyone will and can do what they want w their own body, i was stating my own opinion.

Wow! Thanks for pointing this out...

I was Happy, as I know I didn't feel right at 107, and felt fussed at for stats that were accepted in most places... The change is closer to accurate for me...

The old Rule of 100 lbs for 5' plus 5 lbs per inch, and add or subtract 10% for large or small frame, esp. at my former 5'2"-- the Health Center said I'm 5' 1" now!-- follows these changed figures closer...

However.... Not so Good, after all!

When I follow my stats of 46 and 5' 1"... Trouble shows up at different lower  weights...!

At 100 lbs, all is Fine and 18.9%... my range for my age is 18.5-24.9...

At 90 lbs, I'm MILDLY underweight and 17%???

At 85 lbs, I'm MODERATELY underweight and 16.1%???

At 80 lbs!!!! I'm Severely underweight-at-Last and 15.1%??!!!

Body Builders-- Women-- can, and do, reach low teens... for Competitions, only!

This new range for Healthy BMI is Corrected, but this Judging is Wayyyy Off!!!

Healthy for my small frame is almost exactly 97.5 at the lowest... These New Figures call me Healthy at 98 lbs and 18.5% for 5' 1," and Healthy at 101 lbs and 18.5%  for 5' 2"...  (I'm not certain which to follow, as it is a change with age, lol!)

Any allowance that seems to suggest that it is Ok-- only MILDLY or MODERATELY underweight,  to be 90-85 lbs-- seems Dangerous!!!

And... another problem I almost missed-- each time I do the stats again, the default settings show me as a Man!!! When I noticed and compared the figures that way-- each weight as a Man, then again as a Woman-- the results were exactly the same!!! WHAT does it show for the Men? My range in my Results fits a Woman, regardless of that setting, so I don't know why the setting shows a man and gives answers for a Woman anyway! Crazy...

yea, its definitely really difficult to discern when one crosses the border between "low end healthy" and "underweight.." although I yes it most definitely is not good to have a bmi of 16! wow i can't even imagine being that skeleton-y! awful.

The definition doctors work with is as follows

• 'Normal healthy weight range'.... BMI 20 - 25 ....
• 'Clinically underweight'.... <BMI 18.5 (or 18.2 if someone prefers)
• 'Overweight'.... BMI 25 - 30
• 'Clinically obese'... BMI 30+

The area between 20 and 18.5 is where judgement has to come in.  If someone has naturally always been very thin, eats plenty, exercises moderately and is in good physical and mental shape then they are OK in that range.  They are healthy. 

However, if someone is only maintaining a BMI sub 20 by excessively exercising and/or chronically restricting calories (undereating) and if they are displaying any health problems associated with malnutrition..... depression, anxiety, amenorrhea (no periods), hair-loss, weakened immune system, very low blood pressure, anaemia, etc....  then they are probably too thin.

Numbers matter but they have to be taken into context. 

AGRU - Just because that BMI is too low for YOUR body, does not mean that MOST OTHER PEOPLE have to look like waifs at that BMI too!

A BMI slightly less then 20 is NOT an “elusive weight” that is only possible to maintain for very few people.

I have a lot of experience and I know that A LOT of people can have a BMI in the 18.5 - 19.5 range and look very curvy and healthy, who do not have to restrict to be this weight.

I have a dd cup bra size and look very curvy and womanly with a BMI of about 19.2; I do not have a fast metabolism, or have slim parents either. It is a very attainable and healthy weight for far more people then you make out!

AGRU - I do body pump with heavy weights once a week, strength train with heavier weights once a week, do Pilates several days a week, as well as walking 60 minutes most days. I am by no means a hardcore gym junkie, but I have a BMI a tad below 20, and I have plenty of energy to study 4 - 6 hours a day, as well as keep reasonably active each day.

I am curious as to why you think you know what is best for EVERY one? How can you be certain that a BMI slightly below 20 is inadequate and feels less the optimal for every single person?

PERSONALTRAINER- i cant even read ur entire post, chill out, are you blind or just stupid, what is your insecurity? get off it, i said MY opinion, mine, my own, this is a public forum, you write your crap, ill write mine.

jesus.  it's a range for a reason.  

agru, i think the problem arises when you say things like "i do NOT think it's a good idea" and "i don't think being a waif is healthy."  those statements don't sound like you're speaking for yourself; they sound like you're making universal proclamations.

"your opinion" is great, but try to be clear that it's your opinion about your body, because if it's your opinion about everyone else's bodies, that's going to push buttons.

i'll give you an example: for me, a bmi of 19 - 20 feels good.  it feels healthy and it's where i feel most myself.  obviously, it's not for everyone.

oh whatever but this is what i wrote, including the words "my opinsion"-

"i think, im no expert, everyone will and can do what they want w their own body, i was stating my own opinion."

no,  dont think being a waif is healthy, i dont think a bmi of 16 is starting point of "waifness" either lol.

everyone will and can do waht they want.  if someone eats enough food including all food groups, not 2000 cals of veggies, and is underweight and theyre medically healthy, well then thats the odd one out i think.

as you said PG, its not for everyone, my idea or yours.  i feel weak at a bmi of 19, idk, maybe im just destined to be a fat lazy person.

Original Post by agruskin:

as you said PG, its not for everyone, my idea or yours.  i feel weak at a bmi of 19, idk, maybe im just destined to be a fat lazy person.

oh, for godssake.  yeah, that's what i said.

oh goodness, i like u PG so ill end it here.  i suppose i have a dry sense of humor that doesnt carry well onto the internet and in print.  ultimately, i odnt care what other ppl here do, im not out to spread the gospel or what not, just state my opinions when i wish, thats all.

i said how i feel at that bmi, u said how u feel, neither opinion is obviosuly for everyone, that is all i said.

this is a silly little forum, relax. 

haha agru chill out, i've seen your posts around a lot and they are often a bit agressive, whether you mean to be like that or not.

I think the problem isn't really what range of bmi's is considered healthy.  The problem is that bmi is a poor metric for measuring health.  If you're an average sized person with an average build and an average skeletal frame, then yeah a "healthy" bmi might correspond to you actually being at a healthy weight.  But for everyone else the numbers start skewing.  I mean, I'm 6'4" and 185 lbs.  I'm already on the skinny side.  I could get down to 150 lbs and still have a bmi over 18.2.  I would have to lose ALL of my fat and some muscle to get that low.

Rather than try to figure out which bmi range is right for you (sounds like a medication commercial), how about using something more universal like body fat percentage and heart rate?  

Haha it’s all good, I am just a little confused as to WHY you think that that EVERY one with a BMI less then 20 must be a waif.

I was saying that I have a BMI of 19.2, and I am not a waif. I look like the average women.

You said that you think that BMI’S less then 20 do not give people enough strength, and that “ waifs are not good”

So you are basically saying that you think that every person with a BMI less then 20 is a waif, and must be weak. I was just telling you that this is 100% not true. I know a lot of people with BMI”S less than 20 who are not too thin, and are not weak, and who eat enough. It is common.