New Delhi: How do you define Obesity? Being overweight or obese is defined as an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that is risky for overall health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered to be overweight and weight over 30 is obese. On the other hand, researchers’ obesity can no longer be just defined by body mass index (BMI) and rather should be about how the body fat is distributed throughout one’s body. The statement of the researchers has been released after launching a new framework for diagnosing and managing obesity.
The research has been published in the journal Nature Medicine, the framework that looks particularly at the fat that is collected in the abdomen, measured as ‘waist-to-height ratio’, an increased rate of which is linked to a higher risk of developing cardiometabolic complications, the researchers said.
Obesity remains one of the major health burdens, a recent report by WHO found that 1 in 8 people across the world is now classified as obese. This seems to be a serious health crisis.
Waist-to-height ratio
The authors who represented the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), noted that an important factor or novelty of the whole framework is to include a waist-to-height ratio that is more than 0.5, along with a BMI of 25-30 for diagnosing obesity.
Further, they mentioned that the choice of introducing waist-to-height ratio, instead of waist circumference in the diagnostic process is because of its superiority as a cardiometabolic disease risk. The fat accumulated in the abdomen area is a more reliable predictor of health complications as compared to BMI, even for people not meeting the current standard cut-off value for obesity, the diagnosis of which is a BMI of 30.
BMI alone is insufficient as a diagnostic criteria
The basis for this alteration is the recognition that BMI alone is not sufficient as a diagnostic criterion and that body fat distribution has a substantial impact on the body. As per the researchers, the suggested changes in the diagnostic processes could diminish the risk of undertreatment in this particular group of patients, low BMI and high abdominal fat.
The authors who represented the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), noted that an important factor or novelty of the whole framework is to include a waist-to-height ratio that is more than 0.5, along with a BMI of 25-30 for diagnosing obesity. Health Conditions Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
