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Researchers: BMI is not enough to measure 'obesity-mortality' paradox
Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have proposed that BMI is not an accurate measure of body fat content and does not include other factors that play a role in health and mortality, such as fat distribution, muscle-to-fat ratio, or sex and racial differences, according to a press release.
In a perspective article published in the journal Science, Rexford Ahima, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the obesity unit in the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, and Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and genetics and director of the Institute of Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, wrote that there is a need for further research into the challenges associated with measuring mortality risks and obesity.
“There is an urgent need for accurate, practical and affordable tools to measure fat and skeletal muscle, and biomarkers that can better predict the risks of diseases and mortality,” Ahima said in the press release. “Advances to improve the measurement of obesity and related factors will help determine the optimal weight for an individual, taking into account factors such as age, sex, genetics, fitness, pre-existing diseases, as well novel blood markers and metabolic parameters altered by obesity.”
The researchers wrote that obesity may not be measured adequately due to a lack of weight loss or weight gain in population studies.
“Future research should be focused more on molecular pathways, especially how metabolic factors altered by obesity change the development of diabetes, heart diseases, cancer and other ailments, and influence the health status and mortality,” Lazar said in the release.
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