Experts Call for Overhaul of Obesity Diagnosis Standards

A Lancet report advocates moving beyond BMI to assess health impacts of body fat, aiming for more accurate diagnoses and equitable care.

The Lancet Commission recommends replacing BMI as the primary diagnostic tool for obesity with a more comprehensive health evaluation approach.
The new framework introduces 'preclinical obesity' for individuals with excess fat but normal organ function, and 'clinical obesity' when fat harms organs or limits daily activities.
BMI's limitations include failing to account for muscle mass, bone density, and ethnic differences, often leading to misdiagnoses and health inequities.
Proposed diagnostic methods include waist circumference, body scans, and laboratory tests, alongside personalized assessments considering age, gender, and ethnicity.
The shift aims to reduce stigma, improve access to treatments like weight-loss drugs and surgery, and better address obesity’s complexity as a health condition.