For years, a debate has raged over how obesity is diagnosed. Currently, many countries define obesity as having a body mass index (BMI) over 30, but critics have long argued that other factors come into play beyond BMI, which is the ratio of a person's height to weight. Now, an international panel of experts is officially recommending obesity be assessed differently, the New York Times reports. The Commission on Clinical Obesity's recommended new definition of obesity has been endorsed by 76 organizations around the globe.
- The problem: It's excess fat that causes health problems, and the current diagnosis guidelines for obesity are problematic because BMI is not a direct measurement of fat, the Guardian reports. The use of BMI is thought to both over- and underdiagnose obesity.
- New guidelines: The report suggests using other measures, including waist-to-hip ratio or waist-to-height ratio, to measure excess body fat, and also to look at a person's overall health and any other medical problems they have. Some high BMIs might be due to the fact that muscle weighs more than fat, USA Today reports.
- Getting more specific: Per the BBC, the report also suggests two different classes of obesity. "Those with chronic illnesses caused by their weight should be diagnosed with 'clinical obesity'—but those with no health problems should be diagnosed with 'pre-clinical obesity.'"
- What's next: In an analysis piece, the Guardian notes that once the debate over the diagnosis of obesity is settled, "the larger challenge—curbing obesity—remains. Measures such as eating more healthily and slowly, becoming more active, getting better sleep, managing stress, and limiting screen time, can help." But the government will likely need to assist with those measures, it says.
The report can be read in full
here. It's not yet clear whether the panel's recommendations will be widely adopted,
ABC News reports. (More
obesity stories.)
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