31yo 5’3” 131lbs: Did a Dexa Scan yesterday that has me absolutely shook… found out I’m OBESE with 35% body fat percentage

@kabriana You sound like you are determined! Excellent!

Trust me, I had the same lament as you almost word for word. I really recognized myself in your post. It kicked me into gear and it obviously has done the same for you. I have zero doubt about your success!
 
@bamyz Agreed. Looking at the bf% charts in the DEXA scan results, ~25% bf corresponds to the 20th percentile and below for women, while ~18% is the 20th percentile for men. Calculated BMI values align more closely with men’s bf%, which generally ranges lower than women’s bf%. On a traditional BMI scale, 18 is approximately the underweight threshold.

OP is in the 60-80th percentile for women of her age and her results do not necessarily indicate obesity! Is there a medical professional or technician who could help interpret these DEXA scan results?
 
@hebrew66 So I did a DEXA scan a while ago, which put me at 49.5% body fat. I was blown away, as I weighed more than my normal weight, at 135 and 5'2" - so I had a consultation call with them to find out WTF is this possibly right? The percentiles are based on other people that have had DEXA scans in their database. They estimated that it was based on approximately 150,000 scans. I also inquired as to the fitness level of the people that are in their database, and she confirmed that the demographic does skew toward the super fit.
 
@kabriana Maybe I’m just completely out of the loop but I don’t see how 5’3” and 131lbs could in any way be seen as obese. I know jack about these scans - but it seems like a great way to make people spend money on an arbitrary thing.

A 27 inch waist is not obese.
What’s with them giving the body fat %, the total mass in lbs, the fat tissue in lbs, lean tissue in lbs - but then what, the “ bone mineral content” in neither % or lbs. I mean how will they know the actual mineral content unless their takings a bone graft. Blood samples will show general levels- in the blood-but definitely not the “ bone mineral content”.

My point being this whole thing seems so arbitrary. I’m in no way getting down on op, or anyone who is super into this kinda thing. I just don’t get it.
 
@kabriana Personally think the results sound ridiculous, there’s no way you’re obese at 131lb, that’s a healthy weight! Like others have said I’d take it with a pinch of salt. Sure you might be able to build more muscle, but with a 27 inch waist there’s no way you’re obese. I remember getting a cheaper version of this done when I was a similar weight and had a 26” waist and it said I had 45% body fat - it really made me feel awful and that despite being healthy I was still fat (I wasn’t). I wonder if also having boobs/ass skews this too…
 
@kabriana This exact thing happened to me. I am the same height as you, usually weigh around 125. And my body fat percentage on the DEXA scan was like 38%. My scan sheet looked identical, so probably same company. This is how I discovered the term “normal weight obesity.” But in all honesty I’m also a little bit skeptical about the results. I ran it by my doctor and she didn’t quite know what to make of the whole thing but I was within normal ranges by most medical standards. So I guess I’m taking mine as a data point, but not the be all end all of my body health.
 
@kabriana I’ve heard these things can be off for petite and for tall people - anyone know if that’s true? But I think it’s ridiculous for your stats to be called obese.
 
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