BMI alone will no longer be treated as the go-to measure for weight management – an obesity medicine physician explains the seismic shift taking place

Body mass index has been the standard measure to classify obesity and overweight for decades. kaipong/iStock via Getty Images

Amid the buzz around weight loss drugs and rising rates of obesity worldwide, many health care professionals are questioning one of the key measures that has long been used to define obesity.

On June 14, 2023, the American Medical Association adopted a new policy, calling on doctors to deemphasize the role of body mass index, or BMI, in clinical practice.