The Body Mass Index Doesn't Work: A New Approach to Diagnosing Obesity
Obesity is a chronic disease that is defined by excessive fat deposits in the human body. According to the WHO, there were more than one billion people with this disease in the world in 2022. The number of adults with obesity worldwide has more than doubled since 1990, and the number of adolescents with this diagnosis has quadrupled.
An international group of 58 medical experts has proposed to revise the approach to the diagnosis of obesity. According to the authors of the report, determining the body mass index (BMI) is not enough to make such a diagnosis. The experts shared their suggestions in the medical journal Lancet.
What is BMI
The body mass index is a value that is used to assess the health status of people. BMI is calculated by the formula: weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. The results are divided into several categories: normal weight, overweight, and obesity.
By obtaining these data, doctors and nutrition specialists determine possible health risks and make recommendations for lifestyle changes. If a person's BMI is equal to or greater than 30, then he is diagnosed with "first-degree obesity."
Why BMI is not enough to diagnose obesity
Doctors recommend using BMI only as a secondary measure for epidemiological studies or screening, and not as an individual health indicator. Excessive obesity must be confirmed either by direct measurement of fat in the body, where possible, or by at least one anthropometric criterion (waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, or waist-to-height ratio).
The authors of the report proposed two new diagnostic categories:
- Clinical obesity - defined as a "chronic systemic disease" in which excess fat can lead to organ damage and cause "life-threatening and potentially life-threatening complications."
- Preclinical obesity - "a condition of excess adipose tissue" in which there is a risk to health, but at the same time, a person does not yet have any diseases.
Also, experts urge to examine people with an already confirmed diagnosis of clinical obesity. The disease can be confirmed if a person has two main criteria: a decrease in the functions of organs or tissues and a limitation of daily activities (it is difficult to bathe, dress, walk on their own).
People with clinical obesity should receive timely, evidence-based treatment. And patients with preclinical obesity need to undergo medical examinations and, if necessary, take measures to reduce the risk of developing clinical obesity and other diseases.
