Forums → WEPR → How big are you? Yes, we need to know!

High school was where we finally got to play the real fun sports, like football and table-tennis!

Well theres a line between being forced to do PE and being healthy. You can't have the extreme in one or the other. Maybe those who like sport can do it. Those who are unhealthy can do sports that they like. If they don't like sport, get their parents to change their diet or something. And BMI isn't actually a true scale of what we should actually be. A lot of people are different, and their physical size may the result of genetics. A BMI is just a measurement to check the ratio between fat and height. See here: http://www.alfitness.com.au/BMICalculator.asp

In reply to the OP: A targeted approach from broad surveillance may help really severe outliers, but the real problem is cultural, and therefore community-wide in general.

Actually, to be controversial, I suspect that in a perfect world, the upcoming health reforms would actually provide a better platform for ongoing healthcare of individuals (which covers nutritional and weight management).

In Australia, we did a yearly PE test through high school and got feedback on how we stacked up compared to our school and national averages. We also had to do a prerequisite amount of physical activity to satisfy government regulations, but fortunately our teachers were pretty casual about it and so we actually had some fun. Not to mention that some of the guys I had to do it with were either stoned or high, so it was also pretty funny >_>

Normal patterns don't apply to everybody after school periods, so at least the timeframe is about right. I mean, while I was in school, I was pretty average, and it was only nearer the end that my stats improved to above average (with the exception of standing jump, since I've always jumped like a ninja). But it was after I left school that I really directed my own fitness.

On the OTHER hand again... the funny thing is that just looking at the weight and height stats is misleading. Currently I'm 180cm tall and 78kg, which gives me a body mass index of approximately 24. Now, I'm Asian. This means that according to the Asian BMI chart, I'm overweight.

I have a body fat ratio of approximately 5-8%, depending on how heavy my class schedule is (the heavier it gets, the heavier I get because I can't exercise as much!)

That is not compatible with physiologically 'overweight'. I assume though, that there'll be some kind of pattern recognition and that the cutoffs will be a bit more significant than that, but still, I'm wary of using these kind of measures.

I suspect that in a perfect world, the upcoming health reforms would actually provide a better platform for ongoing healthcare of individuals (which covers nutritional and weight management).