kevinweems's Journal

(Sorry; I'm a journal-creeper). 

I've been thinking about this lately, and I also have trouble putting much faith in BMI calculations. I'm average in the height department, but I have a small frame/tiny bones/suck at gaining muscle and, according to the bmi calculators, I'm considered borderline "underweight" at what my doctor considered my 'ideal' healthy weight. My sister, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. She is slightly taller than average and has large bones, a broad frame, and gains muscle easily. And yet bmi calculators put her a point or two within the realm of "obesity". She would look sickly if she lost 25 pounds, which would still land her in the "overweight" category. We both eat well, (the majority of the time), and are active. No one would look at her now and think, "Wow, she needs to lose weight" just as no one looked at me while at my doctor-approved ideal weight and thought, "Good Lord, someone give her a cheeseburger". It makes little sense to me that a lot of people here seemingly use the bmi calculator like it's some great, sacred standard. I think it's slightly ridiculous to use a tool like that like it's evenly applicable across the board when there are so many variables that come into play.