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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMore than 100 million American adults are living with obesity – and that number is set to skyrocket with new criteria for diagnosing the chronic condition.<\/p>\n
Doctors in Massachusetts said Wednesday that the definition of obesity should be expanded beyond a simple body mass index (BMI) measurement, to include how fat is distributed across the body.<\/p>\n
By applying this new framework to a test group of more than 300,000 patients, researchers found that the number of obese people jumped from 40 percent to 70 percent. The doctors believe that this statistic would be reflected across the U.S. population, meaning that one in four people would be considered obese. <\/p>\n
BMI, first introduced in the 19th century, is an imprecise tool for assessing health risks, say the medical experts from Harvard and Mass General Brigham. Under the new, widely-endorsed framework, many more people could be considered for treatment for potentially life-threatening conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have always recognized the limitations of BMI as a single marker for obesity because it doesn’t take into account body fat distribution,\u201d Steven Grinspoon, Chief of the Metabolism Unit in the Endocrinology Division of the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine, explained in a statement.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Obesity is a chronic condition that leaves people vulnerable to premature death, diabetes and heart disease. More than 100 million Americans are living with obesity (Getty Images\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWe already thought we had an obesity epidemic, but this is astounding,\u201d Dr. Lindsay Fourman, an endocrinologist in the Endocrinology Division of the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine, added. <\/p>\n
BMI is a calculated measure of a person’s body weight divided by their height and has been increasingly scrutinized. During last year\u2019s Summer Olympics, U.S. rugby star Ilona Maher made waves when she said that her BMI is technically listed as overweight, despite being one of the world\u2019s top athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am considered overweight. But alas, I\u2019m going to the Olympics, and you\u2019re not,\u201d the Bronze medalist posted on TikTok.<\/p>\n
Under the new framework, people would be classified obese with a high BMI and at least one other abnormal factor, such as a high waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio. They would also be classified as having obesity if they have a normal BMI and two of those abnormal factors.<\/p>\n
When assessing the study\u2019s participants using these standards, obesity affected nearly 80 percent of adults over 70, the doctors said. A previous tally, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that 41.5 percent of adults over 60 were living with obesity.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>New guidelines from doctors at Harvard and Mass General Brigham would redefine how they define obesity. It changes the 19th century measurement known as body mass index (Getty Images\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cIdentifying excess body fat is very important as we\u2019re finding that even people with a normal BMI but with abdominal fat accumulation are at increased health risk,\u201d Fourman said. \u201cBody composition matters \u2013 it\u2019s not just pounds on a scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the doctors stressed that more research needs to be done to understand the causes and treatments for new cases of obesity as defined by their framework. The guidelines have been endorsed by 76 organizations, including the American Heart Association and The Obesity Society.<\/p>\n
Obesity is linked to more than 40 diseases, stroke and cancer. Being overweight or obese was associated with nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. between 1986 and 2006, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.<\/p>\n
Rates of obesity have tripled over the past 60 years in the U.S., tied to higher alcohol consumption, ultra-processed foods and a more sedentary lifestyle. <\/p>\n
By 2050, experts say as many as 260 million Americans will be overweight or obese without \u201cimmediate action\u201d to reverse trends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more More than 100 million American adults are living with obesity – and that number is set to skyrocket with new criteria for diagnosing the chronic condition. Doctors in Massachusetts said Wednesday that the definition of obesity should be expanded beyond a simple body mass index (BMI) measurement, to include how fat is distributed across the body. By applying this new framework to a test group of more than 300,000 patients, researchers found that the number of obese people jumped from 40 percent to 70 percent. The doctors believe that this statistic would be reflected across the U.S. population, meaning that one in four people would be considered obese. BMI, first introduced in the 19th century, is an imprecise tool for assessing health risks, say the medical experts from Harvard and Mass General Brigham. Under the new, widely-endorsed framework, many more people could be considered for treatment for potentially life-threatening conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. \u201cWe have alway…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7437"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}