Re: BMI Scale

[Jean-Marc Perreault]

Hi John,            I am not particularily muscular, although I am in good shape as I said before. I exercise 3-4 times a week (not weight lifting, rather squash and badminton). I will concur with an earlier comment that mentioned the importance of live measures... Formulas can be a quick short-cut, but it just doesn't seem to make sense in my case... JM John Kulig wrote: I am keeping my BMI a secret :) Is Jean-Marc very muscular?? Since muscle weighs more than fat per unit area, a muscular person will have a higher BMI even though they are in otherwise fine shape. It amazes me to hear of football players who are 5 feet 9 inches tall (my height) and weigh 190 pounds, yet do not look overweight. On the various posts relating weight to longevity, it is important to make sure smoking is statistically removed from the analysis, which was not done in the old studies. There is much very recent evidence showing not just the harmful effects of overweight, but the positive benefits of being underweight. An American Psychologist article from a year or two back summarized some of this work. Will find reference later .. off to exam. ============================================ John W. Kulig Professor of Psychology Plymouth State College Plymouth NH 03264 ============================================ "Nothing is more American, nothing is more patriotic than speaking out, questioning authority and holding your leaders accountable" General Welsey K. Clark, 24 September 2003. -----Original Message----- From: Paul Brandon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 7:32 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: BMI Scale At 3:13 PM -0500 11/20/03, Stephen Black wrote: On 20 Nov 2003, Ken Steele wrote, in response to a query from Jean- Marc Perreault about the BMI measure of obesity:: A year or so back, I computed the BMI for myself and several members of the ASU psychology department. All were physically active (runners, bicyclists) and in good shape. All of us were borderline obese according to the BMI rules at that time. So I have been wary of > that measure ever since. One last point. The data does show that serious obesity (say around 35-40) is definitely a health risk. But as far as I know, there is no study which has demonstrated that if you reduce, you live longer, The old line is "life just _seems_ longer". Actually, I think that there's data showing that the exercising overweight live longer than the sedentary of ideal weight. Ken Steele should appreciate that. (BTW, since self disclosure seems to be the order of the day -- my own BMI hovers at the upper border of overweight but not obese). -- * PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Psychology Department 507-389-6217 * * 23 Armstrong Hall Minnesota State University, Mankato * * http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html * --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Jean-Marc Perreault Yukon College Whitehorse, Yukon 867-668-8867 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]