Yes BMI charts are very flawed! I am 5ft and at 130 pounds, I am a size 2/3 and a small shirt. However, according to BMI charts I am overweight at that size.
However, you can't hardly pinch fat on me. I haven't been that size in 9 years but ask anyone and I definitely was NOT overweight. I was completely healthy sized.

I'm convinced that some kids are made out of bricks. Even if they look small, they are dense. My older son is like that... he actually looks pretty skinny, but when you go to pick him up, you realize how heavy he is.

Also, I find it interesting how some kids tend to grow out first, and then up. Sounds like yours is definitely one of those, from what you said.

While I consider my BMI to be a useful starting place, I'm more worried ultimately about my body fat percentage. That will give me the real information about my body that I can use to make decisions about whether I need to lose fat (not just weight).

That's why I think they tell a partial story, I'm 5'1" and a size 4 when I weigh 127. At 107 I was a 2/3 but hard to maintain after the second kid. My mom is 5'2" and when I was 127; she was about 130-135. She was a size 14/16. Sometimes more. We have the same short waist/high waist and same inseam and bra band size (she's a cup bigger at that time). I think it has a lot to do with muscle, I do build it easier than most, I'm not afraid to lift heavy when I do it, and she doesn't and didn't work out at all save for her cardio rider a few times a year. I would say she's "fluffy" feeling when you hug her. I do think genetically she just doesn't have and never had muscle mass since I can remember, but also she didn't do anything. It's wild.

Meanwhile another friend of mine is 5'7" and her and here best friend are the same size, similar frames, and both work out hard (think 2-3 hours every day since they were 18). Her friend is ripped. She's slim but her body doesn't indicate how heavy she lifts or anything. Both are about the same weight, so it's crazy.

I have never liked those "charts" and what "normal" is. I remember being a teen girl with a 23 inch waist, thick hips and thighs...but still. I weighed more than all my friends...like 20-30lbs more than my friend who was the same height yet we wore the same size. I HAD to be where the stupid charts said I needed to be in my mind or I was fat. I had a very athletic build, out lifting the guys at the gym was extremely easy. My dad used to say it was bad that he had two daughters who could out lift him. I have a large frame...I really did have 36-23-36 shape though the 36 on top was all rib cage. I was obsessed over my weight, measurements and size of clothing size 5-8 depending on brand back in the late 80's early 90's. Not sure if it would still be a size 5...I don't remember hardly anyone being a size 2 or 0 but now that seems common. So I don't know. I would starve myself and exercise constantly to get to what the "charts" said I should be at.

I had one guy who had to weigh us in gym class...a very popular boy a few grades a head of me. I was mortified, the guys in my class all called me fat...I had a JLO behind before it was popular. He put the scale down to this low number and I thought he was making fun of me...he just said "hmmmm" I just gave up the up sign with my thump and he moved the scale up...just a little bit...and said "hmmmm.. I was sure you weighed around the same as my girlfriend.." his girlfriend a cute tiny cheerleader who I would have loved to be as thin as. I still gave him the up motion with my thumb. He finally got up to where I was and he said "WHAT?!?!?! you do NOT weigh as much as me!"

That was the first time I realized perhaps I didn't LOOK as big as the CHARTS made me FEEL.

Now in my mind I am much smaller than I really am. I get shocked every time I catch a glimpse of myself..I never think I am as big as I am. I quit paying attention to the charts and have tried to keep my daughter from them so she doesn't do what I did to myself.

This could have been me writing this. My husband's dream weight is 160. Mine is 155. Both are attainable for both of us, but both will take work to get there. He is 7 inches taller than me, but has a finer build than me.

We lift weights together. Starting out, with no previous weight lifting history, I can lift more than him. When I look around the class (bodypump), even after taking a month off, I have more weight on the bars than most women. I'm just build STRONG and big. I shouldn't be surprised that my son is built the SAME, but I do find it shocking how BIG he is... his hands, feet.. just ENORMOUS.

When I was still growing, I weighed 145 and was about 5'5" tall - just starting menstruation... so I was NOT fully developed yet. My measurements then were 35-24-37 and I was a competive swimmer. I was LEAN. Since then I grew and filled out more. I have no idea what my measurements will be when I hit ideal weight (more like ideal body fat percentage as that's what I'm aiming for more than anything). It won't be tiny! That's for sure. Right now my rib cage has NO fat on it and it's 34".

I'm really glad someone posted about this. I was actually looking through the forums before I posted my own frustrations with BMI.
About 5 years ago, I went from weighing 263 to 212 in about five months. At 263 I was a snug size 18 and at 212 I was a loose fitting size 14. According to the BMI charts, I still need to lose another 65 pounds to no longer be considered obese. Now, I have not been down that low since I came out of the womb, it seems, but I can guarantee you that at that weight I'd look more like a boy than a woman.
My partner, on the other hand, has recently lost 43 pounds, going from 243 to 200, (albeit she is 3 inches taller than me) she currently wears a loose fitting size 18, which is what I'm about to be in, in about ten more pounds (260ish). That's a 60 lb difference and yet we practically wear the same size. It's baffling really.
I know I carry my weight differently than most people I know, and that everyone has a different body type, etc, but it's hard for me to fathom what my goal weight should really be vs what I'm being told. That, coupled with the fact that like many people going through this it's hard to get used to weight loss and actually see your results in the mirror, makes it all the more difficult to get in your mind what healthy really is. And what weight you should really feel proud of.
What is especially frustrating is looking back at photo's from eleventh grade in high school, a time when I thought I was pretty fat because I had been my whole life, and seeing that I was actually in the best shape of my life. It's sad how warped our perception gets through the struggle with weight.

Makes me even more proud of myself and all of the people on here who push past all of that struggle and b.s. in efforts of getting healthy.