Obesity is a disease but not diagnosed with BMI alone, says Lancet Global Commission

The 56 researchers said obesity should be categorised as either ‘preclinical’ or ‘clinical’.
Associate Professor Priya Sumithran.

BMI can be used to diagnose obesity but only in conjunction with other measures of body fat, according to a landmark international statement.

A Lancet Global Commission report, published on Wednesday, said obesity should be reframed as a disease state defined by excess adiposity, with or without abnormal distribution or function of adipose tissue.

The authors, comprising 56 clinical researchers and two patient advocates, proposed that a diagnosis of clinical obesity be made when there were signs of organ dysfunction or limits on daily living due to excess adiposity.

Patients who had preserved organ function would then be classified as having preclinical obesity, which was distinguished from pre-obesity and overweight, they wrote in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.