The president speaking at the Oval Office—how tall is that door, though? NICHOLAS KAMM/Getty Images 
 
 White House physician Ronny Jackson gave a rundown of the president’s health Tuesday for the press corps. Unlike Trump’s previous checkup, described by personal physician Harold Bornstein in hilariously hyperbolic language, the numbers struck me as remarkably unremarkable. If someone read me these numbers, I’d conclude the patient in question was healthy. The blood tests and advanced imaging data reported are entirely objective measurements, and in this case they were largely within acceptable and healthy limits. 
 
 But one result was conspicuously abnormal: the president’s body mass index. At 6’3” and 239 pounds, Trump’s BMI is 29.9, exactly 0.1 units shy of one big league distinction: obesity. Remarkably, the president was found to be exactly 1 pound lighter than a weight that would have pushed him over the edge to receive the diagnosis of obesity. Similarly, if he were merely 1/10 of an inch shorter, he would also be considered obese. 
 
 Technically, BMI is also an objective measure—you plug in the numbers and see your result. But it can be gamed. The president could have fasted prior to being weighed, meaning that he would have stepped onto the scale while on the low end of an adult’s typical 2–4 pound daily variance and eked it out as merely “overweight.” 
 
 The more interesting question is the president’s height. The president has long maintained that he is 6’3”, which already observed as at least questionable if not demonstrably false. But further, he’s been reporting that height since at least the 1980s—strange because many, if not most, adults lose around an inch in height as the age from 30 to 70. When was the last time Trump was measured barefoot? 
 
 It’s striking that the sole aspect of the presidential physical in which the data can be massaged elicited results that place the president teetering on such a conspicuous and, for a man who seems to value optics so much, potentially embarrassing barrier. If the president is in fact obese, he should not be ashamed—he should own it and use his pulpit to inspire others to make healthier choices. But I’m afraid he’ll probably just keep reaching for those extra ice cream scoops. 
 
 Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views and opinions of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. 

 President Trump appears remarkably healthy for a 71-year-old man who doesn't eat well or exercise, and he aced a rudimentary cognitive ability test (you can take it yourself here), according to Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House doctor appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2013. But not everyone is buying Jackson's assessment that Trump is 6-foot-3 and weighs 239 pounds, giving him a barely sub-obesity body mass index (BMI) of 29.9. MSNBC's Chris Hayes came up with the name: 
 
 Has anyone coined "girther" for those who belive the president weighs more than his doctor reports? — Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 16, 2018 
 
 The main argument seems to be that since muscle weighs more than fat, Trump can't possibly weigh the same as professional athletes of roughly the same build. One example of many: 
 
 Colin Kaepernick is 6'4 230 
 
 
 
 Trump is supposedly 6'3 235 
 
 
 
 Something isn't adding up. pic.twitter.com/AEBIwmbFsg — Matt Rogers (@Politidope) January 16, 2018 
 
 Sports Illustrated compiled many other Trump vs. athlete visual comparisons. Did the commander in chief order Jackson, a two-star Navy admiral, to tip the scales, so to speak? Some "girthers" are putting their money where their doubts are. 
 
 I will give 100 thousand dollars to Trump's favorite charity if he will step on an accurate scale with an impartial medical professional, okayed by both of us. For real. #Girther #GirtherMovement — James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 17, 2018 
 
 Others doubt that Trump is actually 6-foot-3. 
 
 Reminder that earlier physicals decades ago put Trump height at 6’2”. The 6’3” height makes a difference on his BMI from overweight to obese https://t.co/iHIsJjustT — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 16, 2018 According to Rear Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, Trump is 75 inches tall. That's 6'3". 
 
 
 
 Obama is listed as 6'1". pic.twitter.com/1SAq7keoBP — Alamo_on_the_rise (@AlamoOnTheRise) January 17, 2018 
 
 The "girthers" already have counter-girthers, including Fox News analyst Brit Hume. 
 
 Because he was listed as an inch shorter earlier. Please. BTW, I’m the same height and am a bit overweight at 190. He looks to me about 50 pounds heavier than I am. — Brit Hume (@brithume) January 17, 2018 
 
 The Hume conversation ended on kind of a strange note, but that's par for the course in 2018. Peter Weber
– That President Trump requested and aced a cognitive exam as part of his first physical as president isn't the detail that's being pored over by the internet. That honor goes to Navy doctor Ronny Jackson's detailing of Trump's height and weight, which Jackson reports as 6-foot-3 and 239 pounds, with a goal of dropping 10 to 15 pounds. The Week reports that rumblings quickly began regarding the veracity of those figures, with MSNBC's Chris Hayes inventing a term to describe the skeptical: "Has anyone coined 'girther' for those who belive [sic] the president weighs more than his doctor reports?" he tweeted Tuesday. At Slate, Dr. Jeremy Samuel Faust describes the stats overall as unexceptional, but takes exception with what the height and weight produce: body mass index, or BMI. Trump's is 29.9, which Faust notes is a slim 0.1 units—and just one pound—outside the obese category. Faust suggests Trump could have fasted prior to weighing in to help keep himself in the overweight zone, but he doesn't have the same plausible theory when it comes to height. He says Trump has been saying he's 6' 3" for decades—but most adults shrink an inch over that span.