Holyfield was considered obese when he beat Tyson the first time. John Wayne, " the scariest words in the human language are, I'm from the government, I'm here to help." So true!

By the standards that are set, the young man is obese. The BMI doesn't lie. The letter did not indicate that he was not athletic.

Keep in mind that this story was on Yahoo's ODD NEWS.

BMI is a terrible way to determine if an individual is obese. There are more effecient and better ways to calculate an individuals Body Composition. Most athletes could be considered overweight from their BMI.

BMI is used by the CDC to determine weight categories. This young man was not tested using the "better" ways to calculate his body composition. I agree with you entirely. The letter did not indicate that he was not athletic. I was just trying to point out that it was being sensationalized by the "odd news" segment of Yahoo.

This is crazy. Wonder how many professional athletes in football, baseball and ba$ketball are considered obese. Most of these athletes in professional sports are not there because they are average. Something to remember.

Muscle mass > Adipose tissue.

My BMI said I was too short. How the heck do they expect a 49 year old guy to grow?

Jeff, being too short for your weight, doesn't mean you are too short....it appears you are growing....

oh thats what they meant.....

So . . . if the standard is giving lots of false negatives, it is BROKE and needs to be changed.

The BMI is a stupid index because it does not take into consideration the three main body types of people.

Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph

Additionally, it has nothing to do with fitness. Lets see anybody on this forum who is in their 30's keep up with Hall of Fame great NBA basketball player Charles Barkley.

Ghez . . . Is this dumb. Talking about wasting a lot of money. I'm sure they would have sent basketball HALL OF FAMER Charles Barkley a letter also during the the peak of his career. After all, his NBA nicknamed was "Sir Charles, The Round Mound of Rebound".

From WiKi:

He was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 5th pick of the 1984 NBA Draft. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' Dream Team. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame."

Barkley - 6 foot 4 - over 250 pounds.

BMI - I would assume - obese range. His fitness level? Off the charts on the positive side.

I love the kid's response to the stupid letter that he got from the state. Grin.

The Obama's eat the "new" school lunches/choices too. I(yeah, right)