Your age, weight and height - why do you post it and ask if you're fat or not?

Question

I'm sure all of you have noticed this really disturbing trend and I really want to address it. It seems like every other question in this section goes something like:

I'm 13 and I'm 5'0" and I weigh 100 pounds, am I fat?

I think it's really, really sad that these young kids (mostly girls) are so concerned about the numbers on the scale and how they look that they feel they have to come on to some random website and ask total strangers to judge them.

I also think it's really disturbing that when looking at the answers, many people respond things like "no offense but you need to lose like 10 pounds"

So I want to know why.

Girls (and guys) who post their weight on here - why do you do it? Do you really think people who don't know you or who have never seen you will be able to judge your looks or health with just a couple of numbers?

People who answer - do you really think you're helping these little preteens by encouraging their paranoia about weight?

My opinion on the best way to handle questions like this is to either completely ignore them or encourage them to see a doctor, or visit this website:
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/Calculator.aspx

Answer 1

I think it's horrible to be that young and worry about weight. I see it at my gym too, young girls exercising. When I was that young I could careless what I looked like. I just wanted to play in the dirt.
I think it has alot to do with the mentors they have these days. I mean, they look up to people like Hannah Montana and Paris Hilton and they are super skinny. It's a shame, but it's not really new either.

For the ones worried about height and weight, the height/weight ratio is off because so many people have so many different body shapes. Your doctor is the best person to tell you if you need to lose weight or not, not random people on the internet.

Answer 2

You'll be able to join at that weight/height. I think you'd only have to worry if you were under 4'9-10. To answer your question, yes, there are different weight limits based on different heights. For example, I'm in the Air Force and they put me down as 5'4, so my max weight limit is 160 and my min weight limit is around 110. I'm not sure if there is an official height limit for nurses, but I'm sure that you can go into the military at that height and weight. My cousin joined the Marines and is 4'11 and was about 90 pounds when she went to Basic. And she wasn't even the shortest in her platoon! Good luck!

Answer 3

I don't do this, but I bet that around 75% of the questions on here fall into the following templates:

1. This one
2. If I do X amount of situps/crunches a day, how long before I get a 6-pack?
3. How do I lose X pounds in Y amount of time?

I think that the overall concern should be: why is the general public so completely clueless when it comes to the subject of diet and fitness? Our schools really need to start emphasizing health more, specifically these areas, or there aren't going to be any people left in this country who aren't running up healthcare bills. Sure, it will hurt Kraft and Nestle's and the big corporations like Archer Daniels Midland...but that is not the issue here. Too many people are completely clueless and/or apathetic!

Answer 4

I ignore those questions. I think that society puts a high premum on the thin look and the kids feel the pressure. I suspect some are also looking for attention, knowing full well they are the right size. I agree that those questions should not be answered. The ones I do answer are those where the weight given clearly indicates the person is fat or obese.

Answer 5

I don't encourage their paranoia, I tell them there's more to health than just numbers, and I also tell them they should be happy with themselves and that they are too young to worry about those kinds of things. Also, most of them do not truely have a paranoia, they want attention, just like the girls who post millions of pictures of themselves on myspace and say they're ugly so people will compliment them. They want people to say "oh wow you're only a hundred pounds! You're so skinny!". In most cases they know they're not fat, the people who truely think their fat very rarely post their weight. It's the girls who just want everyone's compliments and attention.

Answer 6

I weigh about 120 pounds, I always play football so i blend in with all the other people. I just post it because i alrady know i am fat, and soon i think loads more people will know my weight, so i just get it over with. I don't want to answer my age, but i am a teen. I am five foot three. I don't think it helps to encourage preteens their paranoia about weight.

Answer 7

Are you really surprised? I just saw another news story about the "obesity epidemic" on TV last night, talking about how we should force the fast food chains to post their calorie counts in order to "shame" people into ordering healthier food. It seems to me that the more we focus on obesity, the more people (including those who don't have a problem at all) obsess about their weight, and the fatter we get as a country. Back when I was growing up and people ate bacon and eggs with hash browns and toast for breakfast, chips with their sandwiches at lunch, and meat and potatoes with gravy for dinner, followed by dessert every night, people seemed to have less of a weight problem. Maybe if we stopped catastrophizing about it all, people would be under less stress and would eat less.

Answer 8

The people posting those questions are insecure of themselves and need to talk to a doctor and get some idea of what a good weight is for their height, bone size, etc.

Most young women and men don't know what is a good weight for them. This is no reason to go asking on the internet about it.

Answer 9

I have no clue why people do it? It's your weight and everyone looks lovely the way they are. I grew up having a brother that was about 20 pounds over weight but nobody caried! And guess what? When you grow up, you lose a lot of that "baby fat".

Answer 10

People are insecure about the way they look. Teens most of all.People are not any help to them in their answers.How can they really tell if the child is overweight, they can't even see them? They just pop up with a magic image in their head. They are better not to use their imagination and not answer.Especially if it is a derogatory answer.