Re: The Appearance Issue

[Guest guest]

Coming late into this, just a few thoughts:

.. I wonder in America given that overweight people are now the "norm", if someone of average weight looks slim by comparison, and a thin person looks emaciated in comparison. (Kind of the same progression with portion control...a small today is what a large would have been 20 years ago.)

.. I'm wondering what is considered a "healthy" BMI in countries with lower levels of obesity/overweight. My recollection is that BMIs are based upon averages, and if a higher weight is "average" in America, is an "average" BMI really healthy.

.. It would be interesting to compare the recommended weight charts in our country to those in countries with longer lifespans and a lower incidence of obesity, e.g., Japan.

I do think that as beauty is in the eye of the behold based upon culture, that "skinny" is as well.

[Guest guest]

Adding to Bernadette's thoughts on appearance(which I've always

wondered about, too)-- I think that the BMI charts should be separated

to account for sex. Because women typically have smaller bones and

less muscle mass than men, a woman and a man who have the same BMI

look very different to me. From my perspective, the men I know with a

BMI of 22 look very lean, but the women do not look lean. I think a

man with a BMI of 22 looks about like a woman with a BMI of 19. The

upper and lower limits of a healthy BMI may be different for the

sexes. This idea is consistent with a paper I found on extremely low

BMIs which noted that BMI<13 was essentially lethal for men, but not

for women.

Diane

> Coming late into this, just a few thoughts:

>

> . I wonder in America given that overweight people are now the

" norm " , if

> someone of average weight looks slim by comparison, and a thin

person looks

> emaciated in comparison. (Kind of the same progression with portion

control...a

> small today is what a large would have been 20 years ago.)

>

> . I'm wondering what is considered a " healthy " BMI in countries

with lower

> levels of obesity/overweight. My recollection is that BMIs are

based upon

> averages, and if a higher weight is " average " in America, is an

" average " BMI

> really healthy.

>

> . It would be interesting to compare the recommended weight charts

in our

> country to those in countries with longer lifespans and a lower

incidence of

> obesity, e.g., Japan.

>

> I do think that as beauty is in the eye of the behold based upon

culture,

> that " skinny " is as well.