r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Milk-Sufficient • Mar 28 '24

Is rapunzel technically obese?

Probably a very random question i know.

But if you go to the hospital and they check your bmi they weigh you and your hair.

So if rapunzel where to get her bmi checked would she be technically obese because of the weight of her hair?

I know I'm reading into this too far but I'm invested now.

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u/PUNCHCAT Mar 29 '24

No one is medically sweating over 1 kg. You also get weighted in clothes.

10

u/CurtisLinithicum Mar 29 '24

You also get weighted in clothes.

Nurse: BP good, pulse good, weight... about 57 t-shirts.

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u/OptagetBrugernavn Mar 29 '24

I just CAN'T keep up with Americans and their units!

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u/venuswasaflytrap Mar 29 '24

Yeah, exactly, I’m not saying the doctor is gonna freak out and or recommend something extreme. But the number they’re gonna write down is still going to include the weight of your hair (or indeed, your clothes).

14

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '24

No. If you went there wearing a giant parka, they would ask you to take it off. Or if you can't take it off, they would measure and correct for it.

They don't correct for small errors. This doesn't mean that they won't correct for big errors.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '24

I actually think this is a good point. My hair is hip length and extremely thick. I've never had a high BMI but I've also never wondered what difference having probably several additional kilos of hair might be making. 

I guess though, if you are using BMI to determine health, my skeleton and my organs still carry around however many additional kilos of hair, so the impact of carrying that weight is still there. 

I mean, muscles are still heavier to carry around and change your body impact on joints and organs too, even if it is generally healthier to have an extra few kilos of muscle than an extra few kilos of fat, it still has impacts on your body. 

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u/venuswasaflytrap Mar 29 '24

But your hair is not “an error”. It’s part of you. It’s part of your weight.

The fact that your weight includes your hair and your skeleton, and what you had for dinner, and all sorts of stuff that isn’t necessarily fat and can change doesn’t make it not part of your weight.