I was going to write a blog about the problem of Body Mass Index (BMI) being used as the only criteria for being "overweight" or "obese". But going over the research, my head was going to explode, so I'll do that some other day. I'll just give some bullet points for now.
* BMI is your body weight in kilograms DIVIDED by your height in meters squared. If you're not a fan of the metric system go here: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/
* The CDC definition of "obesity" is a BMI of >30.0, "overweight" is a BMI of 25.0-29.9. So if you ever read an article that discusses obesity, that's what they're talking about. That's it. Realize that the amount of fat someone has is not in the definition.
* A person's BMI does not differentiate between FAT weight and MUSCLE weight.
* At 232 pounds and 6'1" I have a BMI of 30.6, so I am technically obese. If I lost 42 pounds I would still be considered "overweight".
* The measure of waist to hip ratio is likely a better predictor of someone's bodyfat than BMI.
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