Height/Weight: Re: [geeks] quiet

[Kurt Huhn]

> > > >The height/weight crap is just that.  I was tols by a doctor that
> 
> Not quite. Being overweight greatly increases the risk of certain
> life-threatening conditions. And a huge proportion of the western world
> is overweight.
> 

True - but the BMI (Body Mass Index) which the gov't and medical
associations use to calculate a state of "overweight" is based on false
assumtpions and innacurate scales.  It makes no consideration at all for
skeletal structure, muscle density, or body type.  It's a simple
calculation of height/weight - that is all.  It was designed, oh, fifty
years ago or something when calculating a person's bodyfat percentage
was a laborious process that involved submerging the person in a pool of
water.  The intent was to give doctors a quick method for determining
unhealthy weights in individuals of average skeletal structure.  It
wasn't accurate then, and isn't accurate now.  The reason why the BMI
ever took off in the first place was that the overwhelming majority of
the population was uneducated about health and fitness - so very few
people thought to question it.

> > I get really pissed with this height/weight ratio bullshit pandered
> > upon us by the government/doctors - as if all humans could be
> 
> I must admit I've never heard of this ratio thing; I've always been
> under the impression that there was quite a large range that was
> considered 'normal'.
> 

See above.

> > classified into one body type.  According to the gov'ts ratio, I'm
> > "morbidly obese" and I *should* weight about 160.  At that weight,
> > like Pete said, I'd be dead.
> 
> It seems unlikely. You seem to be assuming that you're right and the
> doctors are wrong. Well doctors certainly can make mistakes, but so can
> you.
> 

You've seen me, right?
http://www.k-huhn.com/images/kurtinthekitchen.jpg
My skeletal structure wouldn't do 160 without me looking like a friggen
scarecrow - and that is the opposite end of unhealthy scale.  Me, at
160, I'd look like I had end-stage leukemia or something...

I have more than a decade of studying nutrition, health and fitness,
excercise, and associated fields of knowledge.  While some doctors *do*
have specialized knowledge in this area, this particular one doesn't -
and in my estimation needs to take a few classes/seminars.

I'll admit when I'm wrong or don't know something, but in this case I'm
pretty sure I'm spot-on in my analysis.

> > the mouth right there! Jordan is nowhere near overweight, and anyone
> > with half a brain could tell that she's got an enormous muscle/bone
> 
> Do you *really* want to gamble with your daughter's future health that
> you're right and they're wrong ? You may be right, but if it was me,
> I'd want to be *damm* sure that was the case before rejecting the
> advice of a health care professional who should know more about it than
> myself.

Judge for yourself:
http://www.k-huhn.com/images/jordyandkenzie.jpg
standing in front of the stove in the kitchen.  Mackenzie is standing on
her tippy-toes.  Jordan is on the right.  Both of them have the little
baby-bellies that kids have until they get a little older, but it seems
abundantly clear to me that neither is even close to overweight.

In this case, I rejected his advice with great vehemence.  As I
mentioned above, I've studied health, fitness, and dietary subject for
over a decade - and I believe that in this case I know better.

The total idiocy of this man was made even more evident by the fact that
the child's 220lb-no-spare-tire daddy was sitting there next to her. 
Fucking moron is what he is...
-- 
Kurt
kurt at k-huhn.com