According to a September 2024 data brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 40.3 percent of U.S. adults were considered obese between August 2021 and August 2023.

MORE: Obesity prevalence among US adults falls slightly to 40%, remains higher than 10 years ago: CDC The report further outlines the diagnostic criteria for obesity, combining elevated BMI with ...

Specific recommendations for adolescents (<18 years) Prepregnancy BMI cut-points based on CDC BMI charts; weight gain in upper range of the recommended values Prepregnancy BMI cut-points based on ...

BMI, a widely used measure, has long been criticized for being too simplistic. It calculates obesity based only on height and weight, often misclassifying individuals. For example, athletes with high muscle mass may have a high BMI despite having normal fat levels.

The condition is better measured by looking at factors like inflammation, insulin resistance, and glucose tolerance, according to the doctor. In some cases, using BMI can result in “muscular athletes” being labeled as obese, he noted, and people with “normal” BMI can sometimes have “harmful” levels of visceral (abdominal) fat.

An international team of doctors proposed a new way to define obesity that's not based solely on BMI. Here's what they suggest.

People with higher body mass indexes say they're relieved by experts' new guidance to downplay the use of BMI in diagnosing people with weight problems or obesity.

CDC officials say they extended the guidance now because they are seeing more H5N1 patients whose illness they cannot track back to an infected bird or cow.

A group of experts from around the world are proposing an alternative way of defining clinical obesity, eschewing the commonly referenced body max index (BMI) and instead approaching the condition

Was actor Jake Gyllenhaal overweight when he filmed Road House? Should Kansas City Chiefs' tight end Travis Kelce be considered nearly obese? According to the current definition of "overweight" and "obesity,

As of March 2020, nearly 42% of US adults had obesity, with the report estimating that more than a billion people are living with obesity worldwide.

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