Millions of Americans may be considered obese under a new health classification system developed in Europe.
The framework, created by the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), adds people with obesity-related conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure to the “obese” category, even if they were previously classified as only “overweight.”
Researchers stated that the update could help identify health risks earlier and improve access to treatment.
The United States’ obesity rate rises sharply when the new EASO system is applied
According to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, nearly one in five American adults who were classified as “overweight” would be considered “obese” under the new EASO framework.
That change pushes the United States’ national obesity rate from 42.4% to a staggering 54.2%.
The findings are based on data from more than 44,000 adults that were collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2018, which includes data on BMI and underlying health conditions, according to the Daily Mail.
The adults in the study were 43.4 years old on average, and about half were women.
Using BMI alone, the researchers noted that 35.4% of the participants would be considered obese, while 33.3% would be considered overweight. A total of 31.3% were considered to be at a healthy weight.
Researchers found that those newly reclassified into the obese category using the EASO framework were more likely to be older, with an average age of 51.3 years compared to 36.5 for others in the overweight group.
Men were also more likely to fall into the EASO’s redefined group, as were individuals already struggling with chronic health conditions like diabetes.
Some Netizens noted that the United States indeed appears to be experiencing an obesity crisis.
“It shocks me how obese and unhealthy Americans are compared to Europeans (and anywhere else, really..). No self-respect or self-control,” one commenter wrote.
“I would be considered pretty average build in some parts of Europe. Lucky for me, I live in North Carolina, so I look like an athlete in comparison. It’s not all bad news,” one joked.
“Obesity is the new smoking in terms of cardiovascular disease and cancer,” another commenter stated.
The EASO’s new health guidelines could help people get access to better care
Distribution of the population by the EASO definition
Doctors and researchers stated that broadening the definition of obesity could bring major benefits.
For one, it may help patients qualify for early intervention programs and medications like Ozempic, which are typically given to patients meeting a certain BMI threshold today.
Under the current model, people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher are categorized as obese.
The EASO system keeps that standard, but it adds a second step. If someone has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 and also suffers from a related condition, they would be considered obese as well.
“The new EASO framework may provide a more sensitive tool to diagnose obesity than the traditional BMI definition,” the study’s authors wrote.
Among the American adults who were newly reclassified as obese, 57.5% had at least one condition, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or arthritis.
Interestingly enough, high blood pressure affected 79% of the newly defined group, making it the most common health condition.
Following it was arthritis, which affected 33.2%, and diabetes, which affected 15.6%.
The EASO standard hasn’t been adopted in the U.S. yet
Parts of the EASO’s updated health guidelines have been adopted in countries like Ireland and the Netherlands.
Countries like the United States and major health bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), have yet to adopt the EASO’s standard.
BMI, at least for now, remains the standard in American medicine.
Still, the findings could influence future guidelines. When researchers looked at mortality risk, they found that the newly reclassified group had a 50% higher risk of dy*ng prematurely compared to individuals with a healthy weight.
That’s a major red flag, and it’s a good reason why healthcare providers should consider taking a closer look at how obesity is defined and treated. The new approach could also encourage people to take weight-related conditions more seriously, even if they don’t look significantly overweight.
Netizens, for their part, noted that Americans should probably focus a lot more on their health
