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Obesity – a new definition needed. The current one causes incorrect diagnoses and unnecessary treatment – experts

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There is a need to change the definition of obesity. The current situation may cause the disease to be diagnosed too broadly, which in turn leads to cases of “unnecessary” treatment, say the authors of the new report. They suggest that we should move away from relying solely on body mass index (BMI) when diagnosing obesity.

The article, signed by more than 50 medical experts from around the world, was published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal on Tuesday. Its authors suggest that the currently common diagnosis of obesity based on body mass index (BMI) may “both underestimate and overestimate obesity and provide insufficient information about health at the individual level.”

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One billion people are obese

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He is already alive in the world over a billion people are obese. However, the authors of the article state that there is a whole “obesity spectrum”. “Its current blanket definition means too many people are diagnosed as obese but do not receive the most appropriate care,” says the BBC.

As the BBC explains, some people whose BMI indicates obesity lead an active lifestyle and have no health problems. “Some people with obesity can maintain normal functioning of internal organs and overall health, even in the long term, while others already show signs and symptoms of serious diseases,” explains Prof. Francesco Rubino from King's College London. For this reason, he said, it would be “prudent” to redefine obesity to “understand the level of risk in a large population,” as the current definition gives “a blurred picture of obesity.”

Obesity and BMI

Experts recommend that BMI should be used “only as a surrogate measure” at the population level and not as an “individual measure of health.” As they indicate, obesity should be confirmed by direct measurement of body fat or by measuring the waist, the ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference or the ratio of waist circumference to height. They also emphasize that their conclusions have been supported by 76 organizations around the world, including scientific societies and patient advocacy groups.

According to the authors of the article, the current definition of obesity should be changed and divided into two types of obesity. People with chronic weight-related diseases should be diagnosed as having “clinical obesity”, while people without such diseases should be diagnosed as having “preclinical obesity”.

Clinical obesity, we read, can lead to serious organ damage, causing “potentially life-threatening” complications, e.g. heart attack, stroke or kidney failure. In turn, preclinical obesity is associated with the risk of developing diseases such as: type 2 diabetescardiovascular diseases, some types of cancer and mental disorders, but it does not necessarily mean any health problems now.

Overweight and obesity / body mass index BMIPAP

Changing the definition of obesity

Changing the definition of obesity is intended to help in more appropriate treatment of individual patients. People from the so-called People with preclinical obesity should receive weight loss advice and specialist counseling instead of drugs and surgery, and be provided with health monitoring to reduce the risk of more serious health problems.

​​The new approach will allow adults and children with obesity “to receive more appropriate care”, while limiting the number of too hasty diagnoses of obesity, which result in “unnecessary” (avoidable) treatment, said prof. in an interview with the BBC. Louise Baur from the University of Sydney, an expert in the field of childhood obesity, involved in the creation of the article.

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Obesity – what is it?

As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity is a chronic disease that results in excessive accumulation of fat tissue in the body. As a result, it leads to the development of other diseases. “The diagnosis of obesity is usually made based on body mass index (BMI), when it is ≥ 30 kg/m2. Overweight is indicated by BMI values ​​that are in the range of 25-29.9 kg/m2” – reports the District Sanitary Station -Epidemiological in Szamotuły on the gov.pl website.

The most common complications of obesity are coronary heart disease and heart attack, hypertension, diabetes and stroke. Obesity increases the risk of cancer, intensifies back pain and osteoarthritis, causes pulmonary embolism and asthma, and even anxiety disorders and depression. It is estimated that over one billion people worldwide live with obesity.

ObesityPAP

SEE ALSO: “We have just crossed the threshold of a health catastrophe in Poland.” 9 million adults are already suffering from the disease

Main photo source: Shutterstock



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