{"id":19976,"date":"2025-01-14T22:30:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T23:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=19976"},"modified":"2025-01-15T00:25:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T00:25:52","slug":"new-obesity-definition-challenges-current-use-of-b-m-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=19976","title":{"rendered":"New Obesity Definition Challenges Current Use of B.M.I."},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">An international commission made the case for focusing on body fat quantity and the illnesses people experience.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Obesity should be assessed in a way that goes beyond the standard measure of body mass index, or B.M.I., according to a new definition of the condition released by an international commission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Its <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/commissions\/clinical-obesity\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a>, published Tuesday in The Lancet Diabetes &amp; Endocrinology journal, makes the case for focusing on how much body fat and what medical complications the person has, not just their weight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If the guidelines are widely adopted, they could change doctors\u2019 perceptions of who needs to be treated for obesity. They could also affect the use of prescription drugs that treat obesity, like Wegovy and Zepbound. The new definition of obesity was endorsed by 76 organizations around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The commission proposed that instead of continuing the current use of B.M.I. \u2014 as a way to define obesity \u2014 it should be a screening tool to determine who should be tested for excess body fat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The commission said that people who had a B.M.I. over 25 and too much fat, but who are otherwise healthy, should pretty much be left alone. They should be monitored and counseled not to gain any more weight and possibly to lose some.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Their condition would be called pre-clinical obesity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Other people with any of the 18 medical conditions caused by obesity \u2014 13 for children and adolescents \u2014 require medical treatment to improve their health and prevent serious injuries to organs. The conditions include breathlessness, heart failure, hip or knee pain, metabolic abnormalities and poorly functioning organs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171d1bw\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F14%2Fhealth%2Fbmi-obesity-definition.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F14%2Fhealth%2Fbmi-obesity-definition.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F14%2Fhealth%2Fbmi-obesity-definition.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F14%2Fhealth%2Fbmi-obesity-definition.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An international commission made the case for focusing on body fat quantity and the illnesses people experience.Obesity should be assessed in a way that goes beyond the standard measure of body mass index, or B.M.I., according to a new definition of the condition released by an international commission.Its report, published Tuesday in The Lancet Diabetes &#038; Endocrinology journal, makes the case for focusing on how much body fat and what medical complications the person has, not just their weight.If the guidelines are widely adopted, they could change doctors\u2019 perceptions of who needs to be treated for obesity. They could also affect the use of prescription drugs that treat obesity, like Wegovy and Zepbound. The new definition of obesity was endorsed by 76 organizations around the world.The commission proposed that instead of continuing the current use of B.M.I. \u2014 as a way to define obesity \u2014 it should be a screening tool to determine who should be tested for excess body fat.The commission said that people who had a B.M.I. over 25 and too much fat, but who are otherwise healthy, should pretty much be left alone. They should be monitored and counseled not to gain any more weight and possibly to lose some.Their condition would be called pre-clinical obesity.Other people with any of the 18 medical conditions caused by obesity \u2014 13 for children and adolescents \u2014 require medical treatment to improve their health and prevent serious injuries to organs. The conditions include breathlessness, heart failure, hip or knee pain, metabolic abnormalities and poorly functioning organs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19978,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19976"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19979,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19976\/revisions\/19979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}