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more than 100 million American adults are living with obesity — and that number is about to skyrocket with new criteria for diagnosing the chronic condition.
Massachusetts doctors said Wednesday that the definition of obesity should expand beyond a simple body mass index (BMI) measurement to include how fat is distributed throughout the body.
By applying this new framework to a test group of more than 300,000 patients, researchers found The number of obese people increased from 40 percent to 70 percent. Doctors believe this statistic will be reflected across the entire US population, meaning one in four people will be considered obese.
Medical experts at Harvard and Mass General Brigham say BMI, first introduced in the 19th century, is an accurate tool for assessing health risks. Under the new, widely supported framework, many more people could be considered for treatment for potentially life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
“We have always recognized the limitations of BMI as a single marker for obesity because it does not take into account body fat distribution,” said Steven Grinspoon, chief of the metabolism unit in the division of endocrinology at the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine. statement,
“We already thought we had an obesity epidemic, but this is surprising,” said Dr. Lindsay Foreman, an endocrinologist in the division of endocrinology at Mass General Brigham Medicine.
bmi is one calculated measurement A person’s body weight divided by his height speedy investigationDuring last year’s Summer Olympics, American rugby star Ilona Maher He caused a stir when he said that despite being one of the top athletes in the world, his BMI was technically listed as overweight.
“I’m considered overweight. But alas, I’m going to the Olympics, and not you,” the bronze medalist posted on TikTok.
Under the new framework, people will be classified as obese with a high BMI and at least one other abnormal factor, such as a high waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio. If their BMI is normal and two of them are abnormal factors then they will also be classified as obese.
When assessing study participants using these standards, obesity affected About 80 percent of adults are over 70The doctors said. A previous count from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 41.5 percent of adults over the age of 60 were living with obesity.
“Identifying excess body fat is very important because we are finding that even people with normal BMI but who have abdominal fat accumulation have increased health risks,” Foreman said. “Body composition matters – it’s not just pounds on a scale.”
However, the doctors stressed that more research needs to be done to understand the causes and treatments for the new cases of obesity, as defined by their framework. The guidelines have been endorsed by 76 organizations, including the American Heart Association and the Obesity Society.
Obesity is linked more than 40 diseases, Stroke and cancer. According to the , overweight or obesity was linked to nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the US between 1986 and 2006. American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery,
obesity rates has tripled in the last 60 years In the US, linked to greater alcohol consumption, ultra-processed foods A more sedentary lifestyle.
Experts say that by 2050 260 million Americans will be overweight or obese Without “immediate action” to reverse the trends.