[jyl]

That said, most of us are not body builders, marathoners, bike fiends - indeed, none of the "BMI = bunk" folks posting on this thread are either, they only used to be and that was decades ago.

My guess is that for the average person, and most of us are pretty average, physique-wise, BMI is not a bad proxy for body fat.

Let's put it this way - if your BMI reads around 30-35, your body fat is probably a good bit higher than you'd like - 30%-ish. Measure body fat if you can, but if you only have BMI, then don't dismiss it as bunk unless you truly do have a remarkable amount of muscle.