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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Gregory Health editor

Call to overhaul obesity diagnoses amid fears of over-reliance on BMI

closeup of a doctor's hands as he writes a prescription on a pad of paper; a stethoscope and other medical equipment lies on his desk
The report proposes ‘reframing’ obesity to reflect its ‘nuanced reality’ and allow for more personalised care. Photograph: Adam Gault/SPL/Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF

Doctors are proposing a “radical overhaul” of how obesity is diagnosed worldwide amid concerns that a reliance on body mass index may be causing millions of people to be misdiagnosed.

More than 1 billion people are thought to be living with the condition that for decades has been diagnosed by measuring a person’s BMI (their ratio of height to weight) to estimate the amount of excess body fat they have.

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