The British "Lancet Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology" recently published a report pointing out that the current clinical methods of diagnosing obesity mainly based on body mass index (BMI) are not reliable, and call for the use of new, more subdivided diagnostic methods to "redefine" obesity.

According to the World Health Organization, overweight and obesity are measured by BMI, which is the square of weight in kilograms divided by height in meters. For adults, a BMI of more than 30 is considered overweight, and a BMI of more than 0 is considered obese.

The latest report, titled "Definition and Diagnostic Criteria for Clinical Obesity", was discussed and written by a committee composed of 58 of the world's leading medical experts based on the available evidence. The report states that diagnosing obesity should not be limited to BMI, as it is not a direct measure of body fat content and does not provide accurate information about an individual's health. BMI-based methods for diagnosing obesity may lead to under- or over-diagnosis of obesity.

Currently, obesity is often thought of as a precursor to other diseases, rather than the disease itself. The report recommends the introduction of two new categories of obesity diagnosis – clinical obesity and preclinical obesity. Clinical obesity is defined as a disease state similar to a chronic disease characterized by alterations in tissue and organ function due to excessive obesity. Preclinical obesity is defined as a state of excessive obesity in which tissue and organ function remains unchanged but the risk of developing clinical obesity and other chronic diseases increases in the future.

The report recommends BMI as a surrogate measure of health risk at the population level, for purposes such as epidemiological studies or screening, rather than as an indicator of individual health. In addition to BMI, obesity should be determined by direct measurement of body fat or at least one physical measure (e.g., waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, or waist-to-height ratio). A person identified as obese should be further evaluated for clinical obesity based on medical history, standard laboratory test results, or information on daily activities.

According to the report, the recommendations made by the committee have been supported and endorsed by 75 medical organizations around the world. Francesco Rubino, corresponding author of the report and a professor at King's College London, said the report will help bring a common, clinically relevant definition of obesity and a more accurate approach to diagnosis for global health systems.

(According to Xinhua News Agency)