It says right there in the original post that the BMI definition shifted downwards, and discusses exactly these articles like you linked.
Have you ever looked at the BMI? 100 kg at ~183 cm is classified as ‘obese’, whereas if you have barely any muscle 100 kg won't even be enough for a proper beer belly—in my experience. But search the web for ‘obesity’ and lo, landwhales galore.
Not disputing that US people might all be walking barrels of fat—I have no idea. But if you're ripped, I don't see how you wouldn't automatically fall under the ‘obese’ BMI in the stats. Moreso if you have a ‘dad bod’ with both muscle and fat.
The person I was responding to was saying over the past 15 years, being fit and muscular became the norm, and my link was intended to show data where 9 years ago, a third of US 20 to 39 aged people were obese.
And if you’ve traveled around the US, you can simply see there is practically zero risk of classifying a material number of people as obese when they are actually just muscular and healthy. Or you can look at accompanying data for heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.
It says right there in the original post that the BMI definition shifted downwards, and discusses exactly these articles like you linked.
Have you ever looked at the BMI? 100 kg at ~183 cm is classified as ‘obese’, whereas if you have barely any muscle 100 kg won't even be enough for a proper beer belly—in my experience. But search the web for ‘obesity’ and lo, landwhales galore.
Not disputing that US people might all be walking barrels of fat—I have no idea. But if you're ripped, I don't see how you wouldn't automatically fall under the ‘obese’ BMI in the stats. Moreso if you have a ‘dad bod’ with both muscle and fat.
Edit: funny how BMI is illustrated with abstract silhouettes on most sites, but I found some photos of certifiedly obese people: https://height-weight-chart.com/600-220.html
These two dudes close to ‘obese’ are especially illustrative, I think: BMI 29 https://height-weight-chart.com/l/601-230_Mike_L2.jpg
and BMI 28 https://height-weight-chart.com/l/511-200_Alex_L1.jpg