DO YOU, LIKE I DO, dread visits to the doctor because of the inevitable weigh-in and BMI discussion? While I am, apparently, of average American size, I am also overweight, not just by the tables and the scales, but by my own estimation. I’d like to be 35 pounds or so lighter, like I was before I got pregnant for the first time. I don’t know if that will ever happen. I like to cook and eat, I find it extremely difficult to diet, and though I am active, for sure, I don’t know that I’ll ever build in the two hours per day/six days per week workout schedule I know I need to really remove that much weight, not to mention keeping it off.
Meanwhile, there’s a whole world of overweight people (some moderately so, some more) online, and a hot topic of discussion is the accuracy, or lack thereof, of the Body Mass Index (BMI) as a predictor of, well, much of anything. Heavily muscled? Extra tall? You might be labeled obese. Big boobs? Ditto.
Kate Harding, whose site Shapely Prose seems to be the (really good, extremely well-written) nexus of the web’s “get over it, I’m fat” community, has put together a kind of mind-blowing slideshow of real people, with their real BMI categories. Some make sense, at least to my eye. But others? Crazy. Take a look, and tell us what you think. (Over on TSP’s “She Said, She Said” blog, sisters Marion and Margaret are discussing a related topic–dieting–this week, too. Go see.)
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Wow. That was crazy, indeed. So, now being a size 6-8 is overweight? Well, I guess that’s half the female population then.
I actually tip the scales the other way. As my husband always says, “I’m 80 lbs. with a bag of hammers strapped to me.” An exaggeration, of course, but I am thin. However, I exercise regularly and eat WHATEVER I want.
But I was stunned when I tried to get private health insurance a few years back and they denied me because I was considered underweight. THAT was just as crazy. Trust me.
Oh, Paige, watching this slide show just brings on the rage. I say, mothers of daughters need to unite to end this (insert profanity here). We can tell our children how beautiful their bodies are until the cows come home, and then they go into the world and get this. Something’s gotta change.
Well, one (Canadian, I may add…) designer is doing something about it at London Fashion Week: a knitwear designer, he chose to feature his knits on curvy size 12-14 models (I am guessing that is the UK size, so that would be sizes 10-12 US). Of course, his stylist and talent booker walked out on him, but I think that is a good thing.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/09/22/catwalk-larger-models-mark-fast.html
(Oh Paige, if I were only staring down 35 pounds, I’d be deliriously happy! It is all relative…)
Hey, sister. I, too think there should be a BMI backlash. Thanks for this. You’re right, they’re wrong, and you’re my hero for saying so.
Amy–I love your husband’s description, and I hope he doesn’t make you carry that bag of hammers all the time! But you’re right–this labeling is just as unfair to the small as to the large!
Alana–I know, I know. At four, the Rock already hears power in the word “fat”, even though she doesn’t yet really give it meaning or refer it to herself. Sigh. It’s scary.
Monika–What is it with you sensible Canadians, anyway?? I love that story, love it, and boy, who wouldn’t rush to buy clothing that they had seen looking good on women whose bodies bore a resemblance to their own? That happens for some, but definitely not for me. Kudos to Mr. Fast, and I hope to see more designers experimenting with body diversity. Why not?
Marion–Healthy and happy are what matters, and labels seem to interfere with both…