An international group of medical experts says body mass index is not a reliable way to diagnose obesity. Members of the Commission on Clinical Obesity are recommending new methods that also consider location of excess body fat and objective symptoms of disease.
The way obesity is currently diagnosed needs to be changed, according to an international group of experts.
The Commission on Clinical Obesity says body mass index alone is not a reliable measure of health or illness
And new criteria must consider the location of excess body fat and objective symptoms of disease.
Excess fat stored around the waist or in or around organs (such as the liver and heart) poses a bigger health threat than excess fat in other areas of the body.
The Commission is recommending 4 alternative methods to diagnose obesity:
· Using waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio or waist-to-height ratio along with BMI
· Using two of those body size measurements without BMI
· Making direct measurements of body fat using sophisticated scans
· Or assuming that people with very high BMI (above 40) are clinically obese
The commission also recommends doctors be allowed to diagnose either clinical obesity or pre-clinical obesity.
Clinical obesity would be diagnosed using objective signs that excess weight is affecting health,
such as breathlessness, heart failure, knee or hip pain, or kidney problems.
Pre-clinical obesity would involve excess weight that isn’t affecting a person’s organs.
These patients have no ongoing illness, but are at increased risk for clinical obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart problems, and certain cancers, according to the commission.
One member says, “This nuanced approach to obesity will enable evidence-based and personalized approaches to prevention, management and treatment in adults and children living with obesity…”
Source: The Lancet
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