21–30 of 57 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But also BMI is a crap metric, since it doesn't account for percent fat / muscle.
if you're 5'9" / 200lbs you'd better be a powerlifter to be considered fit.
Wow, the linked CDC page in the article says the average American male over age 20 is 5'9" and 200 lbs. That gives a BMI of 29.5, while obesity is defined as >30. Pretty amazing.
But also BMI is a crap metric, since it doesn't account for percent fat / muscle.
BMI may not apply well to you individually, but you can look around and see that there’s a worsening problem that aggregate BMI trends seem to capture.
Another example of confusing mean and median. The CDC is reporting the mean waist size. But the article talks about the “average man” and “most men” wouldn’t fit. That is the median. Waist may be normal distribution like height which means they are close. But I think the distribution may be unbalanced with limit on low weight but none on high.
I don't see an issue. The headline says average and that normally means mean , not median . It also doesn't say that half of people are excluded from it. People reading the article are used to hearing about the average household credit card debt in the USA, and that's also the mean. Edit: I missed the most men part. Other than that it's fine. That would be like if those credit card debt stories said that "most househ…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
if you're 5'9" / 200lbs you'd better be a powerlifter to be considered fit.
not necessarily. some people are stocky but not that fat either. Former high school or college football players would fit the bill, or people who do manual labor.
[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7116789-the-strongest-sh...
Another example of confusing mean and median. The CDC is reporting the mean waist size. But the article talks about the “average man” and “most men” wouldn’t fit. That is the median. Waist may be normal distribution like height which means they are close. But I think the distribution may be unbalanced with limit on low weight but none on high.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_03/sr03-046-508.pdf
Median male adult weight: 192.6 pounds
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see an issue. The headline says average and that normally means mean , not median . It also doesn't say that half of people are excluded from it. People reading the article are used to hearing about the average household credit card debt in the USA, and that's also the mean. Edit: I missed the most men part. Other than that it's fine. That would be like if those credit card debt stories said that "most househ…
That’s exactly it. The average gets pulled out of proportion by outliers, so there’s a good chance that far more than 50% of US American man can ride it.
Another example of confusing mean and median. The CDC is reporting the mean waist size. But the article talks about the “average man” and “most men” wouldn’t fit. That is the median. Waist may be normal distribution like height which means they are close. But I think the distribution may be unbalanced with limit on low weight but none on high.
I don't see an issue. The headline says average and that normally means mean , not median . It also doesn't say that half of people are excluded from it. People reading the article are used to hearing about the average household credit card debt in the USA, and that's also the mean. Edit: I missed the most men part. Other than that it's fine. That would be like if those credit card debt stories said that "most househ…
“According to the CDC, the average American man's waist is 40.5 inches, which means most American men would be excluded from the ride.”
If “average” means “mean”, then clearly this reasoning is broken.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
BMI may be a crap metric for individuals, but not for large population samples. I guarantee you that nearly half of American men aren't at obese-level BMIs because bodybuilders are somehow making a dent in the numbers.
Some interesting information about the BMI in this opinion piece: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268... (Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus)
The author simply fails to understand that BMI is a helpful indicator for population metrics, and contorts into crazy positions to fill out a “top 10” list
Earlier quoted context omitted.
BMI may be a crap metric for individuals, but not for large population samples. I guarantee you that nearly half of American men aren't at obese-level BMIs because bodybuilders are somehow making a dent in the numbers.
Some interesting information about the BMI in this opinion piece: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268... (Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus)
But all of this nonsense nitpicking about bone density vs muscle vs fat is irrelevant when using it to look at large population cohorts over time. Looking at weight vs height is a good, easily calculable metric without needing to put everyone in a float tank.
The US BMI has skyrocketed over the past 50 years solely because we've gotten a ton fatter. There have also been plenty of corroborating studies that we've also gotten a ton weaker, e.g. studies that look at average grip strength.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see an issue. The headline says average and that normally means mean , not median . It also doesn't say that half of people are excluded from it. People reading the article are used to hearing about the average household credit card debt in the USA, and that's also the mean. Edit: I missed the most men part. Other than that it's fine. That would be like if those credit card debt stories said that "most househ…
The article says: “According to the CDC, the average American man's waist is 40.5 inches, which means most American men would be excluded from the ride.” If “average” means “mean”, then clearly this reasoning is broken.