[BenLurkin]

How fat does a guy have to be before he’s officially “obese”?

I’m....uh...asking for a friend....

[Jane Long]

To calculate BMI, see the Adult BMI Calculator or determine BMI by finding your height and weight in this BMI Index Chartexternal icon.

If your BMI is less than 18.5, it falls within the underweight range.
If your BMI is 18.5 to <25, it falls within the normal.
If your BMI is 25.0 to <30, it falls within the overweight range.
If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the obese range.
Obesity is frequently subdivided into categories:

Class 1: BMI of 30 to < 35
Class 2: BMI of 35 to < 40
Class 3: BMI of 40 or higher. Class 3 obesity is sometimes categorized as “extreme” or “severe” obesity.

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html

[cloudmountain]

Man in his 30's = 5'10" = 175 lbs.
Woman in her 30's = 5'7" = 140 lbs.

That is a good guesstimate for friends.

[mazz44]

The BMI is a faulty method to determine obesity. Body type and lean muscle mass must be applied to it. I am 5’11” endo-meso with a good deal of lean muscle. I am considered 20lbs overweight at 185. I assure you I am not, with a 32” waist. So I would take this report and study with a grain of salt.

[Lizavetta]

Let's all get real here. Never mind BMI or the scale.

We all own mirrors. It's clear ... very clear ... when we need to lose weight.

Ask me how I know this. I'm at least 10 lbs. fatter since the forced shutdown. My spin studio is closed and the community pool is closed. My work has disappeared and boredom eating has set in.

[freepersup]

If one is overweight by 20% or more above their ideal body weight, that’s considered obese.

Morbidly obese is being 100 lbs or more overweight. Statistically, one lives 10 years less than a person that’s not overweight.

A height weight chart does not take into consideration a persons build, nor the percentage of body fat being carried on one’s frame.

I’m 5’ 11” in height. I would describe my build as a middle linebacker type physique.

In the Army, I was sent to a leadership school. I was weighed and they said I was overweight and dismissed from the school. I think I weighed 203 lbs, and could only weigh 198 lbs.

I went to a doctor and he performed a pinch test at the waist line with a pair of calipers. I had 14% body fat, per the test. Based on my age, I could have 21% body fat. I think they increased my weight limit to something like 218-221 lbs.

I was never sent back to the school, but I did take a PT test and ran 2 miles in 10:35.

I HATED the Military’s arbitrary height weight charts because they never took a person’s build under consideration.

I joined the US Air Force- IL Air National Guard, and was always on their fat man program because I was considered overweight.

I could outrun 95% percent of our unit, especially the high ranking skinny enlisted sergeants, because most of them smoked like chimneys.

[Svartalfiar]

How fat does a guy have to be before he’s officially “obese”?

Actually, barely fat at all. I'm in decent shape, bit of belly fat but that's it. I'm only 10-15lbs away from being 'obese', though my weight tends to fluctuate about that much so I've probably been 'obese' a couple times. And I had no problem pulling a ~75lb ruck and a 27lb machine gun through the Ft Polk swamp for several miles. To be considered normal weight, I'd have to lose 20-25 lbs and look like a stick.

[lepton]

How fat does a guy have to be before he’s officially “obese”?

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Using the BMI, the most healthy person, by chance to die, is considered *slightly* obese. The BMI is mis-set, and is known to be mis-set.