January 14, 2025

Obesity global Commission – new model goes beyond BMI to diagnose obesity

More than one billion people are estimated to be living with obesity globally.  A new global Commission on obesity is being published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.  The commission is led by a UK scientist and will present a novel, nuanced approach to defining and diagnosing obesity, including looking beyond just BMI.

Whether obesity itself is a disease has been controversial among the scientific and medical community for some time.  Seeing obesity just as a risk factor may lead to some under-diagnosis, whereas seeing it always as a disease may lead to overtreatment.  The Commission has looked at obesity with more nuance, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.  The Commission also provides a new model for disease diagnosis in obesity based on objective measures of illness at the individual level.

The Commission involved 56 experts across a broad range of medical specialties including nutrition, endocrinology, internal medicine, surgery, and public health, and is endorsed by 75 medical organisations globally.

Journalists came to this press briefing to hear from some of the scientists who ran the Commission, and to ask their questions.

Speakers included:

Prof Francesco Rubino, Commission Chair, and Chair of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, King’s College London

Prof Louise Baur, Chair of Child & Adolescent Health, University of Sydney

Prof Robert Eckel, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of comments.