A global group of experts has suggested a new approach to diagnosing and treating obesity that does not rely solely on the much-contested body mass index (BMI).

A new report says only using BMI to determine if a patient has obesity leads to under-diagnosing people who are ill and over-diagnosing people who don't currently deal with the negative health consequences of 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.

But the risk to health and wellbeing is not determined by weight – and therefore BMI – alone. We've been part of a global collaboration that has spent the past two years discussing how this should change.