MILLIONS more Brits could be offered weight loss jabs for free on the NHS under proposals to overhaul the BMI system. Currently, the "miracle" fat loss treatments - which work by making you feel fuller and less hungry - are offered to people with a BMI of 30 or above. 2 Proposals to overhaul the BMI system for diagnosing obesity could see millions more Brits offered weight loss jabs 2 Under current BMI guidelines, a person is considered obese when they reach a BMI of 30 But experts have said people who aren't technically classified as obese might still need drugs like Wegovy or Mounjaro.
They argued that factors such as the accumulation of tummy fat should also be a component for identifying obesity and prescribing fat loss jabs. Abdominal or visceral fat, as it's known, is different to the soft layer of blubber that lies just a layer beneath your skin. Instead, it sits beneath the abdominal wall and wraps around the liver, intestines, and other organs.
Although visceral fat makes up only a small proportion of body fat, it's a key player in a variety of health problems - linked to a higher risk of heart disease, dementia and even certain cancers. But as a result of current BMI index guidelines, people with excess tummy fat might still not be deemed obese - thus missing out on treatments they could benefit from. Writing in the journal Nature Medicine , a coalition of experts from the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) said: "In many settings, the diagnosis of.
