{
  "id": 89289,
  "title": "Redefining Obesity: The Push to Move Beyond BMI",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/redefining-obesity-the-push-to-move-beyond-bmi",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-03T13:25:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MedPage Today",
    "slug": "medpage-today",
    "url": "https://www.medpagetoday.com/spotlight/obesity/122453"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Body mass index (BMI) has been the primary tool for diagnosing obesity, with a BMI of 25 to less than 30 classified as overweight and a BMI of 30 or higher indicating obesity. However, the American Medical Association recently advised against relying solely on BMI, citing data that it often fails to accurately reflect actual body fat. Clinicians now face a choice: continue using BMI or adopt new frameworks that consider fat distribution and organ dysfunction.\n\nBrian Lee, a hepatologist at Keck Medicine of USC, notes that while clinicians understand BMI's limitations, it remains prevalent due to its ease of calculation. The main obstacle to adopting new frameworks is time, as waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio require manual measurement.\n\nA global commission proposed a more nuanced approach in 2023, suggesting that clinicians verify obesity status using additional measures like waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, or direct fat mass assessment. These methods could lead to a significant reclassification of patients. For instance, a study found that 26.1% of adults with a normal BMI would be diagnosed with clinical obesity under these guidelines, and 50.3% of those in the overweight category would qualify.\n\nThe European Association for the Study of Obesity also endorsed a similar framework, combining BMI, waist-to-height ratio, and clinical comorbidities. While these new approaches aim to link obesity diagnosis to actual health consequences, they also pose challenges. The expanded label of obesity could lead to delays in care, and waist measurements are more variable than height and weight. Insurance coverage for obesity treatment may also be affected, as eligibility could drop by nearly 20% if only the clinical obesity definition is considered.\n\nDespite these challenges, the goal is not to discard BMI, which remains useful and cost-free. Instead, the aim is to supplement it with additional measures to ensure that patients with obesity-related organ dysfunction receive the care they need, even if they don't meet traditional BMI thresholds.",
  "summary": "(MedPage Today) -- Body mass index (BMI) has long been the standard for diagnosing obesity. A BMI of 25 to less than 30 is considered overweight, while a BMI of 30 or higher defines obesity. However, momentum is building to move beyond BMI. In...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}