The body mass index can usually be more accurate measurement than thought. New research suggests that most people with BMI reflecting BMI’s obesity are high in body.
Scientists at the University of Johns Hopkins studied, Published This month in Jama. In a national representative sample of Americans, he found that adults with a obese BMI almost always fulfilled the criteria for obesity in terms of waist conditions or body fat percentage. Conclusions suggest that BMI remains an important population-level equipment to assess obesity, researchers say, even many people are trying to phase it.
Researchers analyzed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, a survey of Americans’ dieting and lifestyle habits regularly conducted by the Disease Control and Prevention Center. As part of Nhanes, some people are given more comprehensive examination, including tests measuring their body fat or waist conditions.
Researchers saw the most recent NHANES Data (2017-2018), which included people who received these other tests in addition to their BMI examined. Obesity is usually defined as BMI 30 and more (27 for people of the Asian dynasty). But it can also be defined by being 25% for men and 35% for women, or a 40 -inch waist condition for men and a 35 -inch fat percentage for women.
Researchers found that more than 98% of people who were considered obese using BMI also fit the bill when either the back condition or body fat percentage was taken into account, the researchers found.
Researchers wrote, “Although some patient population (eg, athletes) may warrant further evaluation, our results suggest that these individuals make a very small part of the population.”
The findings are particularly relevant given the recent developments in the field of obesity drug. Before this January, a large group of experts said A large -scale innings How to diagnose obesity.
They have pushed doctors to stop using BMI as the only criteria to measure obesity. Instead, they say, doctors should either use two measurements of body shape (one of which may include BMI) or direct measurement of body fat to diagnose obesity. He further called for classifying obesity into two comprehensive categories, it depends on whether obesity of a person is actively causing health problems: pregnancy and diagnostic obesity.
Other researchers and advocates in the body’s positivity and fat acceptance movement have long called to phase the BMI, and the group’s findings were strongly supported by many public health groups, including the American Heart Association and the World Obesity Federation.
However, the study researchers noted that direct body fat tests require special equipment and may be more expensive for patients in terms of out-of-packet costs, and given their findings, many people cannot benefit from undergoing these other tests. Either way, it is likely that the scientific debate on the usefulness of BMI is not yet quite organized.
The authors wrote, “For almost all American adults with high BMI, there may be limited utility to confirm additional fat.” Currently, under the current BMI criteria, around 40% adult in america Is considered thicker, although the rate may begin Fall in the endThanks to the arrival of new, more effective weight loss drugs such as Wagovi.
