BMI alone can result in wrong diagnosis, need to relook at new approaches for obesity measurement: Lancet study?

Is your Body Mass Index (BMI) high, but what does that mean? For decades, doctors have relied on Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement to assess obesity. While a global commission conducted by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology raises an alarm that BMI provides inaccurate results.

Recently, a Lancet Global Commission report has recommended a new and advanced approach that looks at body fat, including waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio, along with the body mass index, or BMO, to calculate the obesity rate.

The authors of the study noted that the currently available medical approaches rely on BMI, which is not an actual measure of health or disease in a person, and it can provide wrong results or diagnoses. Eventually, this will later cause negative consequences for people suffering from obesity.

What is the new definition of BMI

BMI, or the Body Mass Index, is a medical screening tool that measures the ratio of a person's height to his or her weight to estimate the amount of body fat he or she has. On the other hand, the new definition of BMI says that a person with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 and above can be considered as obese.

The new Lancet report on the same release on Tuesday highlights that people with excess body fat do not always have a BMI over 30, which means that their health risk can go unnoticed.

Meanwhile, the same is seen in individuals with high muscle mass (like athletes) who tend to have a high BMI count, which is despite the normal fat mass.

Relying on BMI alone to diagnose obesity won't solve the problem

Robert Eckel, a professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (USA), who was a part of the expert group, said that only relying on the BMI alone to diagnose obesity is problematic as some people tend to store excess fat at their waist or in and around their organs, including the liver, heart, or the muscles.

This is linked to a higher risk of health conditions when compared to excess fat that is stored just beneath the skin in the arms, legs, or in other parts of the body.

According to Dr. Anoop Mishra, a doctor from India, who was also a part of the expert committee, abdominal obesity is very common in India. The existing criteria are based on the BMI measurement that often fails to classify them as obese.

However, the new classification of BMI may help remove this problem, he added.

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