A new study suggests that body mass index, or BMI, may not fully capture how obesity affects a person’s health. Researchers studying more than 2,300 candidates for metabolic bariatric surgery found that people with similar BMI levels could have very different disease burdens and surgical risks. Using newer definitions, researchers classified obesity as either clinical, where excess body fat is already causing organ dysfunction, or preclinical, where organ function remains preserved despite excess fat. About 74% of candidates had clinical obesity and faced higher cardiovascular, mortality and surgery-related risks than those with preclinical obesity. The findings suggest that assessing actual health effects of excess fat, rather than relying on BMI alone, could improve treatment decisions and surgery prioritisation.
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