In response to my last post on obesity

A Google Talk conversation re: Do you want to see something freaky?

Friend: you do know though that BMI is an imperfect measurement of obesity
Elise: no
but i could see that
i think i did know that once actually
Friend: for example, a lot of athletic people can be considered overweight by that measure
Elise: right
but the change in the map
is likely not from our country getting overly fit
Friend: maybe not
also it looks better when it was earlier b/c most states had no data
Elise: but what about 10 years ago
Friend: here is the paragraph from Wikipedia about it:
"Individuals who are not sedentary - especially athletes - as well as children, the elderly, the infirm, and individuals who are naturally endomorphic or ectomorphic (i.e., people who don't have a medium frame) are ill-fitted to assessment using the BMI. Or to state the problem more accurately, the BMI measurements at which these people may be underweight, overweight or obese are different from sedentary mesomorphs whose ages are between about 20 and 70.
"In athletes, the problem is that muscle is denser than fat. Most professional athletes are 'overweight' or 'obese' according to their BMI - unless the number at which they are considered 'overweight' or 'obese' is adjusted upward. In children and the elderly, differences in bone density and, thus, in the proportion of bone to total weight can mean the number at which these people are considered underweight should be adjusted downward.
"In all cases, methods for actually measuring body fat percentage are always preferable to BMI for measuring healthy body size."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index
Friend: it's definitely a problem in the U.S. but I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of it is from people becoming more athletic; after all, the past 15 years have seen a huge increase in gym membership, weight lifting, etc
Elise: point well taken
i'll put it on the blog