My gym teacher told me that I was 20 pounds over weight. I'm 16, 5'3 and 145. and she said my weight should be in the 120s. But I'm from the Carribbean and no black or latin woman is goin gto be 5'3 and 120. Thise weight charts are outdated and based on the average white person's body. Minorities are going to have a higher body fat percentage because of the climates we live in.
2007-02-05 00:05:32 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
There is nothing wrong with my body. I have a hourglass shape and a nice dark complexion. I'm not going to be falt chested and tiny like these gringas.
2007-02-05 00:06:20 · update #1
There are actually some height and weight charts out there that do go by ethnic group. Let me see...
http://www.magicfoundation.org/www/docs/7
They have them here for different ethnicities and different growth or genetic disorders. I would ignore the idiots who say that "if you're overweight, you're overweight" because that obviously can't be the case if they had to make various charts ;)
2007-02-05 00:16:10 · answer #1 · answered by Danagasta 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes, you are right. I have been researching this myself and found that BMI works great for the averge build, non-active, white person, but not so great for everyone else.
There was a study to compare the body fat percentages of different races. They found that when comparing asians, whites and black with the same body mass index, that asians generally had the highest body fat percentage, followed by whites, and blacks generally had the lowest body fat percentage. This is because asians tend to have very small frames and little lean body mass and blacks tend to have larger frames with lots of lean body mass. Whites tend to fall in the middle and this is why BMI works best for them. This means that the BMI should be lowered for asians and raised for blacks or they should just scrap BMI altogether and measure body fat instead.
So, it's not necessarily that you have a higher body fat percentage, just more muscle mass and bone mass. As you can see, you may have quite a reasonable body fat percentage, even though by BMI standards, you appear 5lb overweight.
If you are concerned, you can have your body fat percentage tested. This will put the matter to rest and then hopefully you can tell your gym teacher where to stick their comments lol. As you are only 16 years old, a body fat percentage between 18% and 26% would be ideal and up to 30% body fat is acceptable.
HTH : )
Take care : )
2007-02-05 09:18:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The height and weight are based white standards. You could lose a little weight if you wanted to, but you are still far from being overweight. I'm not sure how this applies to men, but I know the weight standards are biased to females who are minorities. If I were you, I wouldn't change a thing. A lot of black and latin women have hips, while most white women tend not to. They may claim they do, but not like the black and latin females. Ignore your gym teacher.
2007-02-05 07:28:05 · answer #3 · answered by Knowledge 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I cannot really answer that, but I do know that as a single white male, I can count on no aid from any source whatsoever. No welfare, no medicaid, no nothing. I stand on my own and am proud to say that I have never fallen so badly that I could not pick myself up again. So it does burn me a bit when I see entire families of "minorities" who don't even try to earn a living get all this aid from the government. Aid that I pay for and can never qualify for, not even if I lost my job and couldn't pay my bills. Inequality is the status quo.
2016-05-24 17:46:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe they are based on whites. I read somewhere that muscle composition varies by race. Blacks are said to have the densest muscles of all the races. So....if you are black and happen to be muscular, guess what!? You're not going to fit into the chart and people are crazy to try and tell you that you should. I think that if you feel healthy and your doctor concurs, you shouldn't listen to the gym teacher.
2007-02-05 03:11:53 · answer #5 · answered by YSIC 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually, it has less to do with body fat and more to do with bone density. People with African heritage tend to have denser bones, people with Asian heritage tend to have lighter bones. At 5'8", I wear a size 7, which is fine for my height; I'm not fat in any way. But I also weigh quite a bit more than a Caucasian of the same size.
2007-02-05 00:12:51 · answer #6 · answered by irie.girl_2006 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe they do, but I think it's just based on Americans in general. I'm black, and I'm 5'4'' and I only weigh 109 but my doctor told me that was completely normal. But when I lived in Germany when I was younger I was always marked 'underweight'. Maybe their median weight is heavier than america's median weight. I think different countries use the averages of the people that live there.
2007-02-05 00:50:47 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
At 5'3 and 145 lbs. that's over weight in any culture. Cold climates might give people higher body fat but not hot climates.
Extra weight brings health problems with it, such as diabetes PARTICULARLY among non whites.
2007-02-05 00:13:37 · answer #8 · answered by Debra D 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Weight charts are not based on race. Certain cultures maybe prefer a larger size, but the charts are loosely based on medical facts. But I say, keep the weight that you feel best. If you feel great & energetic then it's your body and you ultimately choose what you think is best for it.
2007-02-05 00:14:10 · answer #9 · answered by Pinkerton 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
the weight chart has nothing to do with color!!! nor where your from! if your over weight your over weight... don't try to blame the weight chart. But what I don't think the weight chart takes in account for is a female with large breasts... you can't help having a large cup size, no matter what your weight.
2007-02-05 00:13:18 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋