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Important news this week! The Lancet Commission on Clinical Obesity released a global consensus report that changes how we define obesity. This new guidance, supported by more than 70 patient, professional and scientific groups—including the OAC—marks a significant shift in how obesity is understood, diagnosed and treated. We’re proud to share that OAC’s President and CEO, Joe Nadglowski, along with many experts we work with, helped contribute to this important report.
A More Accurate Way to Diagnose Obesity
The new definitions are a positive sign that the way we think about and treat obesity is changing. For many years, obesity has been diagnosed based on BMI, or body mass index. But BMI is very limited because it only focuses on numbers and doesn’t show the full picture of a person’s health. What really matters is how obesity affects someone’s health. The new definitions focus on how excess fat impacts organs and whether it leads to health problems.
Here’s a basic breakdown of the new definitions:
- Clinical obesity is a chronic disease where excess fat harms organs and makes daily activities harder. People with clinical obesity may experience problems like shortness of breath, joint pain or heart issues. They need personalized, evidence-based treatments to improve their health.
- Pre-clinical obesity refers to people who have excess fat but don’t yet have health problems. While they might be at higher risk for diseases like diabetes or heart disease in the future, they don’t have health issues right now.
What This Means for People Living With Clinical or Pre-Clinical Obesity
These new definitions help shift the focus from just managing weight to improving overall health. By considering things like how fat is spread throughout the body and whether it harms organs, doctors can give more personalized care.
The change also helps reduce the stigma people with obesity often face. Obesity is now recognized as a long-term disease that deserves medical care, just like other health conditions. This new approach emphasizes more personalized care that focuses on your overall health, not just the number on the scale.
While changes won’t happen immediately, these new definitions are an important step forward in how obesity is treated and understood. The OAC hopes that over time, more people will receive care that fits their unique needs without the judgment or stigma that often comes with it.
Click here to read the full report from The Lancet.
While the OAC has been pleased with the media response generated so far by the new obesity definitions, we can’t help but notice that many media outlets have used stigmatizing imagery when sharing news articles. This is a reminder that visuals are just as influential as words in shaping how obesity is understood.
If you or anyone else is looking for more appropriate visuals to discuss obesity, we encourage visiting the OAC’s Stop Weight Bias Image Gallery, which provides free, commercially usable images for media outlets and publications.