Summary

Body mass index (BMI), which divides a person’s weight by their height squared, comes with fundamental and well-acknowledged problems for diagnosing obesity. It can’t distinguish fat from muscle, tell us where fat is distributed in the body or determine whether excess body fat is actually affecting someone’s health. Now, a very large international study suggests that a more-nuanced approach could substantially improve obesity diagnosis, identify people at elevated risk of illness and mortality, and help clinicians determine who needs treatment – and how much.

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