Patients with a BMI of ≥25kg/m², a waist-to-height ratio of ≥0.5 and any medical complications should be diagnosed with obesity, according to a new clinical framework developed by European doctors.

The European Association for the Study of Obesity has put forward 28 consensus statements “to aid in the diagnosis, staging and management of obesity” rather than relying on BMI alone.

In addition to a BMI cut-off of ≥30kg/m², the panel said adults of European descent should be considered obese if they had a BMI of 25-30kg/m² plus increased abdominal fat — defined as a waist-to-height ratio of ≥0.5 — and at least one medical, functional or psychological complication.

For those of non-European descent, ethnic-specific BMI thresholds should be used, according to their comment piece published in Nature Medicine.