Proposed changes to the Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements could potentially classify countless more people as obese, in a bid to extend the scope of obesity treatments. A group of scholars from the European Association for the Study of Obesity is pushing for an overhaul of the traditional BMI system. The suggested amendment may result in numerous individuals currently deemed "healthy weight" being rebranded as "obese", to combat the rising tide of the so-called "skinny fat" issue.
The experts underscored that the alterations to the current NHS-utilised system would enable more people to access obesity treatments that they may significantly benefit from but are currently sidestepped. Specifically, their attention is drawn toward tackling visceral fat that encompasses crucial organs. Visceral fat is deemed more harmful to overall health and well-being than subcutaneous fat, which is typically more apparent as it resides beneath the skin layer.
High levels of visceral fat have been associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia, and certain types of cancer. Currently, individuals can carry high amounts of visceral fat even if they fall significantly under the obesity threshold according to the BMI system. The present BMI methodology involves dividing an individual's weight by the square of their height.
The proposed framework would lower the threshold for obesity, taking into account factors such as waist-to-height ratio and weight-related compli.
