The team at the New York University School of Medicine and the Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, looked at records from 1,393 people who had both their BMI and body fat scores measured.
Their data showed that most of the time the two measures came to the same conclusion. However, they said 539 people in the study – or 39% – were not labelled obese according to BMI, but their fat percentage suggested they were. They said the disparity was greatest in women and became worse when looking at older groups of women.
The authors said “we may be much further behind than we thought” in tackling obesity.
Areas to think about:
- What health risks may be associated with obesity?
- How can people be encouraged to lose weight?
- What are the most effective ways to maintain weight loss?
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