Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission on the Definition and Diagnosis of Clinical Obesity

Changing the global obesity narrative to recognize and reduce weight stigma: A position statement from the World Obesity Federation

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.” 80 Researchers have criticized BMI‐based definitions of obesity as not taking into account the location, distribution, and function of adiposity and that adiposity‐based chronic disease occurs when there is abnormal, dysfunctional adipose tissue 81 . Further, recent recommendations include a call to move away from BMI as a sole criterion for obesity diagnosis 42,43,83 . It is important to discard definitions of obesity that rely solely on BMI or other anthropometric metrics and instead to conceptualize obesity as a chronic disease that occurs when excess or dysfunctional adiposity impairs health.…”

“…81 Further, recent recommendations include a call to move away from BMI as a sole criterion for obesity diagnosis. 42,43,83 It is important to discard definitions of obesity that rely solely on BMI or other anthropometric metrics and instead to conceptualize obesity as a chronic disease that occurs when excess or dysfunctional adiposity impairs health. To prevent weight stigma, it is important to distinguish between body size or weight and the disease of obesity.…”

Differentiating monogenic and syndromic obesities from polygenic obesity: Assessment, diagnosis, and management

“…In the United States, the prevalence of obesity from 2017 to 2020 was 41.9% in adults aged ≥20 years and 19.7% in pediatric patients aged 2–19 years [ 13 ]. Guidelines for characterizing obesity in adult and pediatric patients vary between organizations; however, the Lancet Commission on Diagnostic Criteria of Clinical Obesity began meeting in October 2022 with the aim to define diagnostic criteria for clinical obesity that will inform clinical decision-making, development of public health interventions, and insurance coverage of evidence-based treatments [ 14 , 15 ]. Generally, pediatric obesity is defined as ≥95th percentile of body mass index (BMI) based on age and sex [ 5 ].…”

Breaking Academic Silos: Pedagogical Recommendations for Equitable Obesity Prevention Training and Research During an Age of Nutrition Polarization

“…Details on the readings are provided in Table 1 . 1 , 2 , 3 , 9 , 10 , 11 Team members have been formally trained in facilitating dialogues on sensitive topics and have combined expertise in health equity, race/ethnicity, racism, energy metabolism and obesity, and multisectoral stakeholder engagement. In terms of positionality, team members represent various stages in the academic career track (a PhD candidate, a postdoctoral research fellow, an assistant professor, an associate professor, and a professor).…”