BMI?

[SapphireDragon13]

I have sort of a problem..... I'm 16, 5'7" and have a BMI of 9.1%, when on average--statistically speaking--girls are supposed to have between 15% and 22%..... How can I fix this? =/

~Jenelle

P.S. I eat alot more than average...... but I have a fast metabolism and stuff.... so eating more really won't help a whole lot....

[antimonic]

focus on eating carbohyrdrates (like pasta, rice, wheat based food etc) more than anything.

Carbohydrates (sugars) are stored in your liver as Glycogen, ready to be dossilved into the blood at times of high energy demand (and be transported to the regions of high activity such as muscles blah blah).

Any excess Glycogen is then stored as fat. That should raise your weight abit.

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

If your weight is bothering you, see your doctor. A BMI of 9.1 is indeed on the low end. If you eat a healthy amount and still can't seem to raise your weight, your doctor can give you some tips. There could be an underlying medical condition or you could just need to change your diet a little.

I would argue against carbo-loading though. As antimonic said, "excess glycogen is then stored as fat." This is hardly healthy weight gain.

[antimonic]

I would argue against carbo-loading though. As antimonic said, "excess glycogen is then stored as fat." This is hardly healthy weight gain.

I didnt say BINGE on carbs lol i said focus on eating them. If she still doesnt gai weight (which a normal healthy person would due to the excess glycogen) then she can see a doctor.

[SapphireDragon13]

Basically nomatter what I eat or how much of anything I eat, my weight is completely constant and doesn't change ANY....... *sigh* .... Lol. Like seriously, NOTHING changes it..... =[ ........ I've always wanted to be "average" ........ ........ but I guess that'll never happen.....

~Jenelle

[INFERNO]

Do you exercise at all? If so, then that tends to increase one's metabolism and would lead to you weighing less. If you don't exercise and just sit around all day twirling your thumbs while eating as much as humanly possible and still don't gain any weight, then you may need to consult your doctor.

[mrmcdonaldduck]

dont worry, you look fine. anyway BMI is notouriously innacurrate.

[SapphireDragon13]

Lol, I run track in the spring and I have gym during the first semester of the school year.... but I did absolutely NOTHING over the summer and didn't gain an ounce..... ughhhhh.... :(

~Jenelle

[Lilith]

BMI has been proven to be a faulty way of what a healthy weight should be by most doctors. Also whatever you used to calculate your BMI is wrong, you would have to weight 60 pounds at your height to have a BMI of 9. Hypothetically speaking, you'd be dead.

[SapphireDragon13]

BMI has been proven to be a faulty way of what a healthy weight should be by most doctors. Also whatever you used to calculate your BMI is wrong, you would have to weight 60 pounds at your height to have a BMI of 9. Hypothetically speaking, you'd be dead.

BMI also has to do with the total amount of body fat.... which is like alot less than average..... I weigh 95 lbs, so my BMI should be atleast 12-14% ..... so yea.... And btw, the percentage (9%) is accurate, because we used this one thing at school.

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

You say 9%. Does that mean you're in the 9th percentile, not that your BMI is literally 9? Or maybe your body fat percentage is 9%? I'm a little confused because I don't believe BMI isn't normally measured as a percentage, it's just a number.

I'd suggest using the BMI calculator which is linked to in the eating disorders section. It's just height, weight, and age, doesn't count body fat. It tells you your BMI based on that info, and uses a percentile to tell if you're considered overweight or not, based on the average BMI for a girl of your age and height. The bottom 10%, I believe, is considered underweight. The thing will tell you where you fit on the scale. Between that and what you got at school, maybe it'll be a more accurate assessment.

Based on what I can see of you in your avatar, I don't think you're drastically underweight. Something to take into account is frame size. Some people do have "big bones", and some have smaller ones. A way to gauge the size of your frame is to make a circle around your wrist with the thumb and pinkie finger of your other hand. If they touch you have a small frame, and you'll weight slightly less than someone of your height with a larger frame. People are just built differently. To me, you look like you just have a small frame--you've probably always been pretty thin, yes?

Like I said before: if you're really concerned, see your doctor. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot you can do. Who knows, though, you may fill out more as you get older.

[SapphireDragon13]

I don't know exactly, it was something they did at school... I think it's a percentage of body fat overall, not BMI. And statistically, my height has always been above average, and weight has always been below average...... soo yea... =[ ...... but, in all honesty, I've just always wanted to be average, like for my height...

~Jenelle