After decades of being the standard, BMI is no longer the most accurate indicator of obesity

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

The statement by the American Medical Association, the nation’s largest association representing physicians, signals a significant shift in how clinicians regard BMI as a measure of general health. With over 40% of Americans having obesity as defined by BMI, a movement away from BMI could have broad implications for patient care.

As a board-certified obesity medicine physician with a research interest in patient-centered obesity care, I have written before about my concerns over use of BMI as a measure of health. The American Medical Association’s policy statement creates an important opportunity to review the current use of BMI in health care settings and to consider what the future holds for the assessment of the health risks of elevated body weight.

BMI basics

Body mass index is a measurement taken by dividing body weight in kilogrammes by height in metres squared. The metric was developed to estimate a normal body weight depending on an individual’s height, given that taller people tend to weigh...

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