Your number on the bathroom scale can be misleading. A new study finds that a large proportion of people with a “normal” weight are still overweight – and at high risk of associated health problems.
A large, international scientific team reviewed research data from the World Health Organization. They found that almost one in five people worldwide with a large body mass index (BMI) show clear signs of abdominal obesity, or excess body fat. Those people with oily skin are also more likely to have conditions like high blood pressure. Doctors may be missing important health issues if they focus only on their BMI, researchers say.
“Relying only on BMI may not be sufficient to identify these high-risk factors and provide timely interventions,” they wrote in their paper, “published this month in the open Jama Network.
“Normal” but Obese
BMI is calculated using a person’s weight and height, with obesity traditionally defined as a BMI of 30 and over. In recent years, some doctors and patients have pushed for an increase in what should be considered a bed.
In January, a large group of obesity experts, supported by organizations such as the American Heart Association, released other methods to detect obesity. This technique asks doctors to use BMI alongside other measurements of excess body fat or to rely on these other measurements entirely. One such measurement is on the edge.
In this new study, researchers analyzed data from the WHO SPRONT SURVEY, a leading peer-reviewed project that allows countries to measure their population’s prevalence of non-communicable diseases. In total, they looked at almost half of the participants in 91 countries between 2000 and 2020.
All in all, 21% of the respondents met the threshold of normal abdominal disease, “which means they had a healthy BMI but a waistline large enough to be classified as obese. Compared to people with a normal BMI and a healthy waistline, this group also had a higher prevalence of hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes, the investigators found.
Not just bmi
Some recent studies have highlighted the importance of moving past BMI.
A study earlier this month, for example, found that nearly 70% of Americans today meet the new definition of obesity; This includes the 25% of Americans who had a normal BMI but other measures of obesity, such as waist circumference. This study also found that people with skin obesity had a higher risk of health problems than normal people. That said, the authors of the latest study say they are the first to examine how widespread this pattern of hidden obesity is worldwide.
Instead of completely abandoning the BMI BMI, the study researchers argue that doctors should use it in conjunction with these other measurements to get a better idea of their patients’ health and metabolic.
“Our findings suggest the need to use both BMI and obesity in rotation, rather than alone, to provide a comprehensive and accurate assessment of various cardiovascular risks,” they wrote.
These results should also encourage the average person to get a complete checkup at their next physical, which can simply stop at BMI.
