New way of proving obesity?

dotofoz · August 25, 2006

Well, for all of us that will be awaiting insurance approval, this really SUCKS! Sorry to be so blunt, but this'll just give me something else to worry about while trying to get approved! Check this out from MSNBC! If you have trouble w/the link, it's under today's health section. According to this article with "new" calculations, I'm "fit". Yes, I "FIT" right into a size 26 while being 4'11"!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14483512/

:faint:

SharronL · August 25, 2006

Well imagine that at over 200 lbs I'm considered healthy at 5'. I guess the pain in my legs, ankles and shortness of breath (this is why I got the lapband) are just in my head. What a crock. They've been stressing how overweight people are and to get healthy and no they are saying go ahead and stay fat??? Wonder if insurance companies are behind this? =-)

I think I'll stick to my orginal plan of losing the weight.

Sharon

sleepyjean · August 25, 2006

I suspect that most people with a BMI that puts them in the obese category will also have an unfavorable waist to hip ratio.

I wouldn't worry about this too much. If this is eventually adopted as the new standard for measuring obesity, it'll take a while to trickle down to all of the insurance companies. You'll be banded long before that happens. I can't see this particular apprach being adopted quickly because it is just as skewed as BMI. There are a lot of pear-shaped women out there.

dotofoz · August 25, 2006

Well, I hope you're right. So far the BMI way is to my advantage. I also have since added lower back pain and plantar fasciitis (sp?) to my list of weight related issues, on top of the normal ones we all have. My chiropractor offered to write me band recommendation letter, yes I'm taking him up on his offer! ALCON, send me good vibes!

vinesqueen · August 25, 2006

The hip-to-waist really is much closer to figuing out obesity thank strict BMI. But then again, these are both scales, and scales lie. Lie, Lie, Lie.

The BMI really doesn't work for anyone with a highter than normal muscle mass, or lighter than normal mass.

The whole body should be looked at, as opposed to one scale.

MoOrLess · August 25, 2006

At 261 lbs at 5'5 I am at .907 waist-to-hips ratio -- they say all women should be at 0.8 (0.95 for men)---so I'm smaller than the target (if I was a MAN!)

so I'm not too far off from their target ratio number for women - which I think is silly.....as if I am not overweight - yeah right.......I'm not pear-shaped but I am still MO - BMI charts, weight/height charts, my doctor's opinion....