LogFAQs > #961418925

averagejoel posted...

you cannot determine how healthy someone is, or how healthy their "habits" are, by looking at them. you also cannot determine those things by looking at their BMI.

I don't typically base it upon simply looking at somebody.

Prior to a serious back injury years ago, I was a fitness instructor. When dealing with consultations and drawing up regimes, I'd ask people to be as honest as possible, and fill out food diaries for a length they felt was reasonable based on what they wanted from me.

Many had bad eating habits, some had underlying medical conditions.

I'd get as much information as possible, have people fill out health-questionnaires and PARQ forms to let me know if I should be referring them to their GP first before going on any form of regime or plan with me. Would have been pretty daft of me to suggest nutritional changes or exercise plans to people that could be detrimental to their health.

My post above is more so on the topic of being "fat-phobic". I don't vibe with the idea of adding phobic to things because it's a cop-out to escape discussion of a variety of subjects. There are people deserving of the mantles, sure, but it's a common tactic to shy away from any discussion.

I've always felt that BMI was a crock of shit myself as well, I liked getting people to a place where they, as an individual, felt comfortable but would always suggest optimal paths to get there and any potential improvements that could be had. BMI is outdated as fuck as there a lot of variables it doesn't take into account.