Millions of people may be taking weight-loss jabs unnecessarily as many are being “over diagnosed” with obesity, according to a landmark report. Leading medics have claimed that a Body Mass Index (BMI) score is not detailed enough to measure obesity accurately, advocating for more comprehensive assessments before someone is deemed obese.
The Lancet Commission, comprised of over 50 experts globally, suggests a much-needed “radical overhaul” in the way obesity is diagnosed, indicating that using BMI alone can lead to both overestimates and underestimates in obesity prevalence. Critics point out that many physically fit individuals with no health issues still fall within the obese category based on BMI alone.
Currently, obesity in the UK is defined as possessing a BMI of at least 30, or at least 27.5 for certain groups of ethnic minorities. The commission argued that a “blanket definition does not reflect reality” and can result in excessive reliance on surgical options and medications for those misclassified as obese.
Francesco Rubino, chair of bariatric surgery at King’s College London and the commission’s lead, highlighted that the evolving landscape of obesity treatment, particularly with the introduction of new weight-loss drugs, further justifies the need for a reevaluation of diagnostic measures.
The report claimed that while BMI can be useful, more appropriate methods to assess excess body fat are necessary, recommending that BMI be utilized as a surrogate marker rather than a definitive measure of health risk.
Ideally, obesity should be diagnosed by combining BMI with other measurements such as waist-to-hip and waist-to-height ratios, or even more advanced methods like total body fat assessment. However, these techniques can be resource-intensive, with the NHS currently lacking adequate scanners and trained personnel for such assessments.
In addition to moving beyond BMI, the commission proposed establishing two new categories of obesity: “clinical obesity,” characterized as a chronic illness that can cause serious health issues, and “pre-clinical obesity,” which indicates excess fat without immediate illness.
This new classification could redefine the obesity landscape, potentially leading to decreased figures for those classified as obese, while possibly reframing others just below the obesity threshold as clinically obese.
Experts, like Tom Sanders from King’s College London, have expressed optimism that these recommendations may help direct medical interventions more effectively to those in genuine need, thus reducing the stigma currently surrounding obesity and its treatment options.
Given the growing number of individuals globally classified as obese, the urgency for an accurate and nuanced approach to obesity diagnosis is more pertinent than ever.
Source: iNews
