An international expert commission is criticizing the Body Mass Index (BMI) as the sole criterion for diagnosing obesity. The BMI, which calculates the ratio of body weight to height, is not informative enough because it provides no information about the distribution of body fat or possible impairments of organs. For example, people with a normal BMI may have dangerous fat deposits in and around organs, while others with a high BMI, such as athletes, are perfectly healthy.
The experts advocate for more accurate diagnoses that, in addition to BMI, also take into account the waist-hip ratio and the direct measurement of body fat. These methods could help to distinguish between "clinical obesity" - in which organ functions are impaired - and "preclinical obesity" - in which there is a high percentage of body fat, but no immediate health problems. This differentiation should facilitate access to therapies and enable targeted prevention programs.
At the same time, the commission is calling for obesity to be recognized not only as a risk for secondary diseases, but as an independent chronic disease. This could help to improve access to medical treatments and therapies. In Austria, such therapies are currently difficult to access because health insurance companies often do not cover the costs. A redefinition of obesity could reduce social inequalities in treatment, but also carries the risk that certain patient groups, such as children and adolescents, will receive less support.
The goal of the proposed changes is to improve the diagnosis of obesity, to make health policy measures more precise, and to optimize the care of affected people.