4 Medical Breakthroughs for Weight Loss

BMI has long been used to assess body weight and track obesity, but a growing number of experts question its accuracy as a health screening tool.

The measure, which is basically a ratio of height to weight, was invented back in the early 1800s by a Belgian statistician as a way to study populations of people. It was used by insurance companies to determine a person's death risk. "It's not derived from medicine or science," Stanford says.

Kushner notes, "You can take the front linemen for your favorite football team and they all technically have obesity because they are heavier than they should be for their height."

Conversely, some older adults have medical problems associated with excess body fat even though they don't have a high BMI, he says.

Underwater weighing and DEXA scans (an imaging test that measures bone density) are more accurate ways to measure body composition, but they are expensive and impractical.

In recognition of the problem, a group of worldwide experts convened a Lancet commission to come up with a new way to define obesity. Stanford, who is on the commission, says she believes BMI will be a part of the equation, but it may include other indicators such as blood pressure, fasting glucose levels, waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio.

A method called digital anthropometry also holds promise, Kushner says. It uses simple 3D optical imaging to scan your body and measure your fat percentage. A study published in January 2023 in the journal Nutrients found that digital anthropometry is reliable and accurate, especially in patients with obesity.

Michelle Crouch is a contributing writer who has covered health and personal finance for some of the nation's top consumer publications. Her work has appeared in Reader's Digest, Real Simple, Prevention, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

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