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Consultation process to wider population
Jul 12, 2011 05:31
12 yrs ago
English term

stoutly-built girls

English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I am looking for the best expression that describes young girls (12-year-old) who according to their body mass index were found to have stout body build and medium body build.

Could I say stoutly-built girls and medium build girls? It would be the best if these two expressions were analogeous.
Doesn't "stoutly-built girls" indicate that their body construction is generally stout?
Responses
3 +2 girls of stout / medium build
3 +2 girls of heavy build / average build
4 +1 slightly overweight girls
3 +1 athletic/strong built girls
4 FionaT's second comment
4 Robustly-built girls
3 girls with so-called heavy bones
2 -1 Yorkshire Lass

Discussion

FionaT Jul 12, 2011:
In response to Joshua's remark about "of heavy build" being a euphemism: I don't think it is. The police use it all the time when referring to people they are looking for (either missing persons or criminals) and that's not really a context in which they would use euphemisms. Here's an example and there are many more on the Internet: http://www.centralscotland.police.uk/news/index.php?news_id=...
asia20002 (asker) Jul 12, 2011:
I am sorry, I was wrong, the criterion was probably the slenderness index. The stout girls are those whose index is below 40,6 cm.kg-1/3. This index is not precisely defined in the text.
Hassan Lotfy Jul 12, 2011:
BMI places athletic/strong built younger people in the same category of the medium built; due to the muscle mass accumulated in young athletes, so probably it is an attempt do a further classification of that category.
benettfreeman Jul 12, 2011:
If its true that the girls referenced in the source text are not 'fat' but simply have BMIs above a certain level, that doesn't prevent the medical establishment from describing them as overweight. As I indicated below, this is not a very nice approach, but then what can one expect from an establishment that arbitrarily sets standards for weight?

Saying that a given ratio of height/weight/body fat percentage statistics is 'perfection' or an 'ideal' is an approach closely related to 'social biology' (a.k.a. eugenics), I would say.
asia20002 (asker) Jul 12, 2011:
The author divided the girls examined into 2 subgroups and probably the terms for describing them is not very fortunate.
benettfreeman Jul 12, 2011:
If you're looking to produce a modern translation you simple have to avoid the use of stout altogether. It is not widely used anymore.
asia20002 (asker) Jul 12, 2011:
In my source text there are expressions "girls of stout build" and "girls of medium build" (in Polish) throughout the document. This is not a medical text, it presents results of Eurofit tests and some statistic data on correlations between "body build" and physical fitness. I asked the author but I haven't received an answer yet.
Helen Genevier Jul 12, 2011:
Can you clarify the question? BMI aims to measure excess body fat and the person would be categorised as overweight or obese classes I to III on the basis of their BMI. Sometimes "build" is taken into account, but that refers to the frame (bones and muscles) rather than body fat. It's not clear to me from your question whether you are looking for a term for build in this sense or a word to describe a certain category of high BMI.

Responses

+2
20 mins
Selected

girls of stout / medium build

Although it is certainly possible to say 'stoutly-built', I think the tone is perhaps not quite correct for what appears to be your rather formal, technical register (?)

In addition, you can't say 'medium-built girls', nor really 'medium build girls' as you have it; the expression '[person] of [adjective] build' is common enough and without stylistic colouration, and will fit well enough with both your adjectives, so that would be my suggestion.
Note from asker:
Thank you, I was just afraid that "stoutly-built girls/girls of stout build" means a person who generally has a stout body construction and an indicator for division is MBI. It's a scientific text.
Peer comment(s):
agree Melzie
42 mins
agree kmtext
1 hr
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, I decided to choose this option, although I am still not sure which is better: "girls of stout build" or "heavy build". "
+2
1 hr

girls of heavy build / average build

is just another option.
Also, if it is a scientific text, you might consider using the categories associated with BMI (overweight etc.): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index#Categories
Peer comment(s):
agree Arabic & More : This sounds the most natural to me.
3 hrs
agree Lara Barnett : Though I would say "heavily built girls".
6 hrs
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+1
1 hr

slightly overweight girls

You said the source text was scientific. In my experience, such texts are unlikely to pull punches or use niceties like "girl of medium build". Of course they are not going to say "fat girl" because that is not academic language. Neither are they going to use a word like stout because quite frankly, it's a very old-fashioned word that never really made it out of the North of England except in a nursery rhyme about a teapot.

The first reference below is from an obesity organisation, and they are using the above term.

The second is from the BBC and references a scientific study.

If the text is scientific, these days they are simply not going to meander around looking for a sensitive term. If the girl is slightly overweight, she will be described as such.
Reference:

http://www.obesity.org.ph/?p=article1-message

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/144444.stm

Peer comment(s):
neutral Christine Andersen : As I understand it, the girls are not in fact overweight. Skeletal structures vary, and some are simply broader across the shoulders and pelvis etc. than others. BMI does not entirely take account of this.
32 mins
If its skeletal bredth which is being referenced, then stout is still not correct, as it means bulky (e.g. referring to the flesh) not just wide.
agree Nesrin : I'd go with that. Since the asker's text is all about BMI categories, the link provided by Fiona explains that the BMI category right above "normal" is "overweight". That could be due to skeletal structure or fat - no distinction is made there.
1 hr
Thanks, Nesrin. If the source accepted the BMI standard of measurement, it should almost certainly describe the girls as overweight. Only if it was sympathetic to the limitations of BMI measurement would it explore skeletal structure etc.
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2 hrs

girls with so-called heavy bones

The expression ´heavy bones´ is widely used if you google, though it is far from being a scientific term.

There is a difference between plain overweight and someone whose skeleton is simply bigger and wider, and who therefore has larger muscles and higher body weight.
The width of the pelvis can affect BMI, which is based on weight, height and waist measurements, but does not take account of the skeletal structure. Usually the shoulders are corresponding. wide or narrow, but not inevitably.

(In some circles it was called a ´good childbearing figure´ because the wider pelvis meant fewer complications when giving birth.)

People with large/wide skeletons can be overweight like everyone else, but conversely, the very slightly-built types with very narrow shoulders and pelvis can be almost overweight even when their BMI looks fine.

Other expressions are ´of muscular build´ and ´of athletic build´.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Nesrin : That kind of excludes girls whose BMI is simply due to obesity, doesn't it?
4 mins
As I understood it, I thought the asker was looking for a way to distinguish between the types of build, where BMI alone does not distinguish them.
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-1
29 mins

Yorkshire Lass

To compare the 2:
Yorkshire lass / Lancashire lass
but perhaps no-one outside the 2 counties would understand.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2011-07-12 09:43:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In response to Bill's comment "No-one outside would understand", I might add that "No-one inside would be offended". If only the rest of the world were more tolerent and able to laugh, not only at each other, but also themselves we'd all be a lot better off.
Peer comment(s):
disagree Melzie : This is for a medical text; in addition it is not necessarily advisable to choose a location to describe a body build under any circumstances.
31 mins
It was really ' a tongue in cheek' answer, not to be taken too seriously.
neutral Sandra & Kenneth Grossman : Ethnic jokes are not funny.//I am not familiar with either. To an outsider, it sounds awful. :-)
1 hr
Yorkshire and Lancashire have been making fun of each other ever since the War of the Roses, and some are very funny!
neutral William [Bill] Gray : As you say, no-one outside the two counties would understand. I remember the furore round the Lancashire use of "love", as being demeaning, insulting, sexist, etc. Local usage can be very tricky!
2 hrs
Ee bah gum, tha mutherin law sarnds to be areet!
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+1
6 hrs

athletic/strong built girls

BMI places athletic/strong built younger people in the same category of the medium built; due to the muscle mass accumulated in young athletes, so probably it is an attempt do a further classification of that category.
Peer comment(s):
agree Thuy-PTT (X)
16 hrs
Thank you Thuy_PTT
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7 hrs

FionaT's second comment

FionaT's initial suggestion is not appropriate. But her idea of using the official BMI terms is. Heavy build, like stoutly-built is a euphemism. Since the source-text is scientific, terminology should be in that register.
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12 hrs

Robustly-built girls

Robustly-built girls.

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Saludos
eski :))
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