Monday, April 4, 2011

Black Women Can Be Healthy At Higher Weights

For years, I've questioned whether BMI measurements are a true measurement of my healthy weight.   In the past I've stood next to women who weighed 20 pounds more than me, but have the same measurements and sometimes even look skinnier than me!  Additionally I've hopped on many a scale where the scale operator grossly underestimated my weight and stared at me in disbelief as they nudged the 10+ lb notch upwards .  Maybe it's because I'm black.
Photo:  Copyright BeautyCentral.com
 According to my current BMI of 32, I am very overweight for my height.   I realize that I've packed on some pounds, but when I look in the mirror I don't see very overweight, just slightly overweight.   Yet my BMI insists I'm stepping closer to morbidly obese.

In a recent article, Study Shows Black Women Can Be Healthy At Higher Weights , many readers expressed their frustration and distrust of BMI.

One reader wrote,
"Ok, you all DO realise that BMI was invented in the late 1800s, right? The issue here isn't about black vs white vs asian, it's about the fact that we're still seriously considering a piece of psuedo-medical quakery from the period of time when people thought tapeworms were a valid diet and children should be fed heroin to shut them up!  BMI, at its simplest, divides your weight by your height. We ALL know that health is measured in many complex ways, and that with which we should all be concerned is becoming healthy, not skinny!"

I agree.  To  me being healthy is feeling healthy and full of energy.   Such things include being able to walk without running out of breath, feeling comfortable in my clothes, not feeling "sloppy" and walking without knee aches. Ideal weight is about feeling comfortable in your own skin and not overburdening your body with excess weight.  Maybe it's time to re-evaulate BMI structure.

Now onward to food:   Things I ate this weekend, some bad, some good.  My good meal of the week- Yesterday's dinner:  TJ's Southwest Salmon with Spinach.  Omega-3s and Vitamin E!

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