BMI alternative for identifying obesity ‘could prevent misdiagnosis in millions’
Summary
Researchers tested an obesity diagnosis method that combines BMI with waist measurements and checks of organ function. Using health records from more than 800,000 people, they estimated that BMI alone can miss obesity in 5% to 9% of adults and wrongly label up to 3%; the alternative also separates clinical obesity, which impairs organ function, from pre-clinical obesity.Key Facts
- The study used health records from the UK, US, China and Spain and tracked people for up to 15 years.
- The proposed method considers people with a BMI above 40 obese, while people with lower BMIs are assessed using waist measurements and waist-to-height ratios.
- The method defines clinical obesity as excess body fat that is already impairing organ function.
- Pre-clinical obesity refers to excess body fat that poses a health risk but has not yet caused organ problems.
- The researchers estimated that only about a quarter to a third of people classified as obese under the new approach had clinical obesity.
- The article reports that 80% to 90% of people with pre-clinical obesity did not develop clinical obesity during the following 10 years.
- The researchers said the more detailed assessment could help doctors tailor care, including lifestyle advice, weight-loss drugs or surgery.
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