70% of Americans now meet criteria for obesity

Jan 9 (edited) • Weight loss

When researchers applied a new obesity definition that includes waist circumference and other anthropometric measures beyond BMI, they found that 70% of Americans could be classified as obese, compared to just 43% under the traditional BMI-only definition. This isn't just statisticians moving goalposts.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open and analyzing over 300,000 people, identified a previously overlooked group they termed "anthropometric-only obesity," meaning people with elevated waist measurements despite normal BMI.

These individuals showed increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular events, and organ dysfunction, even though they wouldn't have been flagged by BMI alone. This distinction matters because the distribution of body fat, particularly abdominal fat, drives metabolic dysfunction independently of total body weight. This represents a significant shift in our understanding of obesity.

It's not just about the number on the scale; where you carry that weight profoundly affects your health. When we include these more comprehensive measures, we see this is nothing short of a national health emergency that should be treated as such. The good news is that lifestyle interventions targeting metabolic health, including whole foods nutrition, resistance training, and stress management, address both total adiposity and its distribution.

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