Where are you on the global fat scale?

shysal - Czech Republic, is it? Now you're showing off! There ain't many people with a higher BM than me. I take no pleasure in admitting this, though I am baffled because, as I've said, I don't think I look that huge, despite my short stature.
I guess it's all concentrated round my bum and thighs. Not a pretty sight.....

At last Rowan, someone is admitting to a higher BMI! There will be many of us keeping quiet. I will admit now to belonging in the Czech Republic! Come on a few more cuddly people and make me feel better!

I'd fit in best in Malta, apparently. And I was shocked to read how much heavier I am than most UK women. In fact, women worldwide. I honestly don't understand that - I know I am in the obese category, but I don't look THAT bad - I've seen plenty of fatter women around....and I know that's no excuse, and I am trying very hard to address it but nothing seems to be shifting despite more exercise and sticking to the 5/2 for a couple of years! I lost a few kilos and now it's stuck. SIGH!

I'll have to resign myself to being a FatBastard and suffer the comments from my MIL.... :'(

Australian, I'm Australian. I knew there was a reason I hate British winters so much and feel the cold and felt so much at home in Darwin!

If this 5:2 diet doesn't work, we're emigrating!

I was just reading back through this and I think I will call myself SportyFaye, now I am average in the global range and getting fit. I have been riding most days since before Christmas, some days up to 18ks which is a lot for me. Most annoying is the stretchy pants I wear when riding are getting tighter, I could hardly get them on this morning.i notice above my knees is becoming muscly. Not what I really wanted but I do enjoy riding.

Recently I was crossing the road and was nearly run over by about ten cyclists, I really couldn't see them as the sun was in my eyes and they were riding fast. One shouted out, "wake up." I was so embarrassed. I wonder if getting fit is worth it sometimes.

I have tried it twice you can see I don't have much to do first I was in Somalia, now I am in Ghana. Still 23 bmi and 86% lower in my country and 66% lower bmi global average. Global average 50.

OK Joy, I'll look forward to seeing you. Be warned though, I just had a quick look and the BBC says that Cote d'Ivoire is the world's leading source of cocoa, so we may well be moving somewhere else before long, and our clothes may not be as over-sized as we would like them to be...

Waving....

When I just put in my target weight and it turns out that when I reach this I will leave Gabon and join you in Cote d'Ivoire. I don't think it will take very long so please look out for me in a few weeks from now... You will easily recognise me wearing my over-sized clothes.

I got 24 but from Nigeria

I got 24 like Maggiemaybe and KatyK but I'm from Cote d'Ivoire

Anya, yes but, don't forget that a third of the population are at the other end of the spectrum, the BMI calculation is over estimating the proportion of lean muscle to fat and telling them they are in the recommended range when actually they still have too much fat on their body. This is exactly the point crun makes.

As part of a healthy living promotion at work some years ago my body fat was measured by the more accurate method of using calipers to measure the thickness of folds of fat on my body. On the basis of that I was told I needed to lose about half a stone to reach a weight where I was not carrying excess fat. The BMI formula tells me that I am in the approved BMI zone when I weigh a stone more than the weight I was recommended to reach then - and the weight recommended was the upper limit I should reach

Fortunately I use my eyes to gauge a healthy weight. I can see that when my BMI is at the top end of the recommended range I have rolls of fat on my stomach and midriff so I try to stick to the weight recommended all those years ago. That weight gives me a BMI close to the lower level for a healthy BMI, but is nevertheless the maximum I should be.

That's fine for me, I understand the statistics and can look at the context but many people just think that providing they are in the recommended BMI range then everything is OK, when for 1 in 3 they are still carrying too much fat on their bodies and could still, quite unwittingly, be putting their health and longevity at risk.

Those over the BMI because they have a higher than average proportion of lean muscle to fat then get harassed and told off for a problem they do not have.

I got

BMI 24
Lower than 79% of 60-69 year olds nationally
Lower than 58% globally

I am most like someone from Laos!

When I googled Togo, I was presented with the online restaurant booking service I used the other day for that massive curry I had....

Togo sits nicely on the graph between China and Japan - both of whose female inhabitants seem a lot slimmer than me.

My BMI's 24, and I came in as below average on both (lower than 83% nationally and 62% globally).

I was aghast at first when I saw that I'm most like someone from Togo - I'm geographically challenged, never have been able to sort my Togos from my Tongas.

BMI 21; lower BMI than 92% females in my age group in UK; lower than 76% world wide. I am most like someone from Papua New Guineau. Hmm.

OH came out at BMI 18! - he is most like someone from Bangladesh.
We are turning into a seaside postcard!

"if you want to find out the ratio of lean muscle to fat then that is a different matter. We all know that some people eg athletes have a very high percentage of lean muscle, which can appear to artificially increase their BMI. But I doubt this applies to the average GNetter"

That's the whole point isn't it. Since I was forced to quit cycling my weight hasn't changed much at all, and yet I have watched the way my rib cage has disappeared under a thick layer of fat, most of it offset by the loss of muscle. My BMI puts me thinner than the average Bangladeshi, but I don't look it.

Don't you mean body composition Flickety ?

Mass is used here (somewhat inaccurately) to mean weight. So this BMI business is simply a ratio between your height and weight. It isn't going to inaccurate at all.

But if you want to find out the ratio of lean muscle to fat then that is a different matter. We all know that some people eg athletes have a very high percentage of lean muscle, which can appear to artificially increase their BMI. But I doubt this applies to the average GNetter

Two thirds of all BMI measurements are inaccurate. One third underestimate your real BMI and lull people into a state of false security. One third, the third that is always talked about, over estimate your BMI.

It does not take into account your build, are you wide or narrow framed, short or long legged.

It is a totally unreliable figure that tells you little or nothing about your actual body mass. I have no idea how anyone thought this was a good weigh of estimating body mass.

Comoros....I don't know where that is !
I'm below average globally and nationally, apparently. I now feel not so guilty about eating DH's chocolate that I discovered in the fridge a few minutes ago. I shouldn't even be looking in the fridge at 1am !

Iraq!

Anyone from Swaziland want to swap clothes with me. By the way where the hell is Swaziland?

I think it's a bit naughty to describe BMI as a measure of how obese you are, even with quotation marks around obese, as it presupposes that you are obese. I think you have to have a BMI of over 30, possibly even higher, to be technically obese. Having a very low BMI is also unhealthy.

I am most like someone from Malaysia and have a lower BMI than 77% of women worldwide. Well I am surprised. There I was thinking I was fat. Happy me!!!