The ever-groundbreaking Kate Harding put together an eye-opening slideshow featuring images of women paired with their BMI-related body classification. It was just astonishing to see who got slapped with "obese" and "overweight," and even more bizarre to see the miniscule women who'd been deemed "normal."
It's a must-see, friends. Take a peek at Kate's BMI Illustrated Project.
Image a screenshot of Kate's slideshow.
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24 comments:
All I can say Sweet Sal is - WOW. So incredibly eye opening! I'm spending time in SoCal where it appears that NO ONE eats and feeling bad about how I look. This was a reality check. Pretty awesome.
I took a look of the slideshow and I just don´t know. Everyone is dressed differently, I couldn´t put these people in different categories only by one picture. The skinny ones and the obese ones are not questionable, but it is hard to put a straight line to who looks normal weight and who doesn´t.
Ick. I so dislike numbers (from age to clothing size, when one can be a 6, 8, or 10 depending on the brand, and weight) in relation to one's identity and self-image. Hurrah for this photographic project debunking the BMI.
Thanks for sharing! I used to love BMI, when I was 5'7' and 115 pounds, but then I stopped growing, and now it is evil.
Thanks for sharing this. I knew BMI was a lot of rubbish when I found out that my tall and broad shouldered, but otherwise not particularly big boyfriend is overweight. He would have to lose about two stone to be in the normal range, in which case he would look like a walking corpse!
OMG! I can't believe this.
BMI is a bunch of crap - according to it, I'm "somewhat overweight". It doesn't take into account other factors, like muscle mass or bone structure.
Thank you for posting this! I have long held the opinion that the BMI guidelines are junk science, since they only consider height and weight (not frame size, muscle mass, or overall fitness level.)
I especially enjoyed the comments--a thread about the horrors of middle school and high school gym class developed. I agree completely with the comment asserting that middle school gym class is designed to make you hate both your body AND exercise.
What if most of the "fat" is in your boobs? Seriously, I don't see how the BMI could be accurate on women's bodies. There must be a better way?
Thanks for sharing the slide show. That was fascinating.
Woow this is fascinating, thanks for posting xx
Bleeding fantastic! I've hated BMI ever since I was a 5'7" 137lb college freshman who got classed as "overweight." And I don't think that whoever created it has reasonable expectations for women's bodies. As husband often reminds me, softness can be a very good thing!
I absolutely love this! My brothers and I have always joked that when we had to figure out our BMIs in middle school health class, our results went off the chart into a bright red, "Shouldn't You Be Dead, Fatty?" zone. So depressing and so hilarious.
That's so funny that you posted this today Sal, because just yesterday there was an article on NPR about the same thing!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439&sc=fb&cc=fp
I remember when I was in cosmetology school, several of the girls decided to have a weight loss contest (which is a terrible idea to begin with, of course) and decided that judging by BMI would be the way to go. I, even as a non-participant, tried to explain why that wouldn't work only to be brushed off. Of course, one of my classmates once informed me that she wouldn't drink vitamin water because it has too many calories, she'd rather drink diet Coke instead. Ehh.
Anyways - sorry for the long comment, but thank you for this post Sal!
Okay, I am officially starting to read your blog (yay) in my google reader. This was great!! BMI used to be a measuring point for me, unitl I realized the online calculator doesn't account for muscle mass at all!
I've always disliked the BMI as a measurement of health. My doc agrees and says that measuring body fat is much more accurate, especially for athletic women. Thanks for posting!
Sal I have been reading your blog for some time and I find it interesting, though not all posts resonate with me. For this post, please ladies, relax. Every (good) doctor will tell you that BMI is one of the many factors that are taken into account for one's health. Fat percentage, age, waist to hip ratio, physical build, general habits etc. are also needed for a correct assessment. It is a highly personalized situation. In theory, you could only eat junk food, your BMI might be withing the normal range, everything else will not. BMI is neither "junk" nor the absolute measure. As for the slide show, it doesn't tell me anything new, some of these women are overweight, some are not, clothes and poses can alter perceptions, I cannot judge. It is not a scientific experiment. I actually find it a bit sensationalist. What is a fact, is that being overweight is generally problematic and so is being severely underweight. 2 or 5 kg on the other hand are usually not of great concern. All these do not change the situation, that a significant percentage of people are obese with all the health problems this entails. And that in general being 48kg and 175cm is definitely not healthy :)
A female anonymous (I don't have a blog!)
Thanks for sharing - this was really interesting. My best friend came home from the doctor's office recently and said that she had been "diagnosed" as nearing morbidly obese. I looked at her and couldn't believe it. I agree, BMI is bull.
So eye opening! I've harbored a bit of a bias against the BMI calculator since I used it years ago when I was anorexic and clearly underweight (bones showing!), and it said I was "normal". Ummm... Yeah. I have a pretty dense muscle mass, which is made heavier by the fact that I work out, and BMI always classifies me as normal or overweight. At this point though, instead of freaking out over the numbers, I can just sit back and have a good laugh at what the "experts" say is normal. haha!
Anonymous: Kate Harding's slideshow is not claiming to be scientific in the least. But by showing women paired with their BMI designations, she's proving your very point: That this measurement isn't the end-all, be-all of health or fitness.
What a great slide show! My BMI suggests that I am "obese," and to that I say in the most respectful manner, "Bitch, PLEASE." Hope you had a great 4th of July, Sal! Thank you for all of your inspiring posts!
Definitely thought provoking! I can't believe I just spent 45 mins reading the comments to her post, though. Those were great.
I have seen this before and it really opened my eyes to the whole "obesity epidemic".
Being 30 lbs overweight counts as "obese"!?
Going by weight and height alone is a very stupid thing to base things on.
fantastic sally! i linked to this post from my blog, i hope you don't mind!
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