Research
Energy balance
Obesity should be staged using functional and cardiometabolic risk factors (Edmonton Obesity Staging System) rather than BMI alone, as BMI alone underestimates risk and fails to capture morbidity.
Don't just look at your BMI. Your health risk is better predicted by your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and how physically fit you are. A higher BMI doesn't automatically mean you are unhealthy, and a normal BMI doesn't guarantee health. Focus on improving your metabolic markers and fitness.
LimitedQualifiesHIGH confidence
Although BMI and waist circumference are useful anthropometric markers to identify potential risk, they do not accurately reflect the presence or severity of the health risk. ... The staging system was recently shown to predict increased mortality among 2 large population cohorts.
Why this rating
Based on population cohort studies and guideline recommendations.
Source
Assessment and Lifestyle Management of Patients With Obesity
Robert F. Kushner et al. · JAMA · 2014
DOI 10.1001/jama.2014.10432
clinical_guidelineCited 232×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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