Question:
How is it determined if you are big boned?
I have heard all my life that I am big boned but what the heck does that mean? My bones are big compared to what? Who? How is this determination made? I would be greatful to hear if anyone else has been told this, who told them, how it was determined and does it mean that you will weigh more than someone else your height with say, small bones or normal bones? Please don't think I am being silly, I just would like to know is this a true bone condition or if it is just a way some people explain their girth. Thanks all. — Teresa G. (posted on March 6, 2002)
March 6, 2002
Hi! I have always been told the same thing. It is supposed to be
determined by your wrist size, I think. Even at my thinnest, I wore a 7
1/2" bracelet. Little people sometimes wear a 5 1/2 or 6" one.
That's not a lot of help but maybe some else will know in more technical
terms.
— grammie5
March 6, 2002
I read an article that says to tell your bone structure wrap YOUR thumb and
middle finger around YOUR wrist.. if they over lap you are small framed, if
they just touch your are medium framed, if there is a gap you are large
framed. Hope this helps!
— Allie A.
March 6, 2002
There is a calculator at this site to measure and calculate frame size.
http://www.healthstatus.com/fsz.html
— cindy Q.
March 6, 2002
Your doctor or surgeon can measure your bones and tell you your frame size.
This is done by holding one of your arms out straight, palm up, and then
bending your arm at the elbow. The nurse (or doctor too, I suppose) uses
and instrument to measure your frame size by the bones in your elbow. The
wrist trick is not helpful... Suppose you do this and your fingers do NOT
overlap, this supposedly means you have a large frame, correct? What
happens when you lose weight and some of the fat off your wrists, then do
this trick again. Suddenly your fingers over lap, and voila! You're small
boned? I think not.
— [Anonymous]
March 6, 2002
Why is it that all the snotty posters always post anon- The wrist IS
measured in deciding bone structure.. I personally have had the same wrist
size thin and fat. I don't think a lot of people carry their fat in their
wrist.. GEEZ>> relax anon poster...The article was just a suggestion
on a round about size!!!!
— Allie A.
March 6, 2002
I don't think that anon was being snotty, just giving her opinion. And I
am going to agree with her, because of experience. At my largest weight my
fingers did not touch around my wrist, so therefore I was big boned? Now,
40 lbs. from goal, my fingers overlap, so now I am petite? I think it may
be accurate for someone who doesn't carry their weight up top, like a pear.
I am an apple and have always looked like a pumpkin on toothpicks. My
arms are much larger than a WLS friend that weighs 60+ pounds more than I
weigh. So it may be a fair assessment for some, but not for all. I still
would like to know whether I am big boned or not!!
— Cheri M.
March 6, 2002
It seems to me that I have heard of the length of the arm bone being used
to classify "bone size" so to speak. On the wrist thing, that was
one of the tests that we did as teenagers to see if we were thin or not. If
your thumb and forefinger could touch around your wrist you were thin (or
had really long fingers!). Mine NEVER touched. But now they do! And I
really HOPE my bones are the same size! ;)
— ctyst
March 6, 2002
"Big-boned" -- yep, it can be an excuse (like the
"underactive gland" thing), but it's also true. I'm one of those
big-boned people. Even now I wear a size 9 ring, size 11 shoes and have a
heck of a time finding women's gloves that fit. My wrists are bigger than
my husband's, and my fingers are about half a knuckle longer -- and neither
of those things, on him, are particularly small. I have that
"broad-shouldered-across-the-hips" body type, and I've always
been tall and large-boned. There's 17-1/2" between the base of my
neck and my waist, and the average, I think, is between 14" and
15". I don't think "big boned" has to do with the WEIGHT of
your bones, so much as it has to do with the SIZE (length, etc.) of your
bones. Hope this helps!
— Cheryl Denomy
March 6, 2002
I don't think the wrist measurement is very accurate if you're morbidly
obese. I know that I have lost a couple of inches off my wrists since my
surgery. I lost one watch already and my current one slides all over the
place. I've always thought of myself as "big-boned" as have many
of us who were MO. It's quite a suprise to many of the folks in our
support group who always thought they had big bones to "melt
away" with their weight loss and see a "tiny, delicate" bone
structure emerge!
— BethVBG
March 6, 2002
I also couldn't wrap my fingers around my wrist presurgery and now I can. I
think that the size of your hands and feet relative to your height is a
good indicator. My sister and I are the same exact height. I outweigh her
by 80 pounds. Her fingers are about an inch longer than mine and her shoes
are a whole size larger. So, while I am visually bigger than her, she is
bigger boned than me.
— Julie S.
March 22, 2003
I have been big boned all my life. My endocrocologist thinks the ADA
recommendation for my hieght and general framse size is to small for me.
Maybe it will be different when I get to see a bariatric sureon (still
looking for one).
Many people have commented on the wrist thing, and it does work. So does
the web link listed in a earlier post. Even as a "normal" sized
child I could not connect my fingers around my wrist. Remember the
"how many babies" trick? You started at the wrist and moved
toward the elbow wrapping your fingers around. Well, at 100# in 6th grade I
could not do that. I know 100# may seem big then, but I played soccer, was
on the tall side, and was almost solid muscle.
Know that bone size will affect the final result. As a bigger boned person
not only can you carry more weight, but some Dr.'s feel you should. You may
never get to a size 5, or even a 10. Personally, I look forward to a size
12 as my final size. I don't want to be ultra skinny as it would look as if
I were emaciated.
Sorry for the long post, but I seemed to catch on to some of those feelins
you may be having.
Jennifer P
— Jennifer P.
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