Several world experts propose a new way to define and diagnose obesity, believing that the process can be more effective and accurate. Despite the study’s conclusions, critics highlight some challenges that can become challenging by “putting aside” body mass index (BMI).
A group of experts is proposing a redefinition of obesity, moving away from the traditional body mass index (BMI) as the only diagnosis metric. According to the report published in the magazine the goal is to create more accurate criteria to identify the people who need the most treatment.
Obesity, characterized by excess fat accumulated in the body, affects more than 1,000 million people in the world, citing AP. Currently, it is diagnosed mainly through the BMI (It is calculated by dividing the weight by the height to the square). However, this method has been widely criticized for being limited.
IMC can overlygive obesity in people with high muscle mass, such as athletes, and underdive it in people with excess body fat, but with values below 30, thus being outside the traditional classification of obesity.
New diagnostic categories
According to the investigation, obesity would no longer be evaluated only by BMI, including other criteria and evidence of health -related health problems.
The report thus introduces two new concepts:
- Clinical obesity: It applies to people who have high BMI and other markers of obesity, combined with evidence of health problems associated with excess fat, such as heart disease, hypertension, liver problems or severe joint pain.
- Preclinical obesity: It refers to people at risk of developing weight-related conditions, but they still have no health problems.
With these new categories, According to a preliminary analysis, about 20% of the people previously classified as obese would no longer be. But, on the other hand, 20% of people with serious health problems, but with lower BMI would be included in the definition of clinical obesity.
What are the challenges in implementation?
Although the proposal has been approved by more than 75 medical organizations around the world, its implementation may face practical difficulties. Measure the abdominal circumference, one of the suggested indicators, may be more complex than it appears, due to the lack of medical formation and the fact of most common metric tapes are not large enough for many people with obesity, he stressed, AP, Katherine Saunders, an obesity expert.
In addition, differentiating preclinical clinical obesity will require detailed health assessments and laboratory analyzes, which “implies high costs“.
For Kate Bauer, a nutrition specialist at the University of Michigan, the proposal can be difficult to understand for people, because they “like and need simple messages”, glowing AP.
“A first step,” experts say
Despite the challenges, experts argue that this approach represents an important advance in the fight against obesity and that The “first step in the process” is taken, considers the expert Robert Kushner.
“The goal is to identify who needs more of help, ”he explained to AP, David Cummings of the University of Washington, co -author of the report.
For the researcher, the new system does not significantly alter the number of people diagnosed with obesity, but improves the identification of clinically relevant cases.
According to experts, the redefinition is only the beginning of a process that should be accompanied by new guidelines and practical adaptations.
