Global experts redefine obesity diagnosis in groundbreaking report
The Lancet Commission, which included Dr. Ebaa Al Ozairi, Chief Medical Officer at Dasman Diabetes Institute, aimed to reshape the understanding of obesity, establish diagnostic criteria, and prioritize interventions and public health strategies.
• Dr. Ebaa Al Ozairi, Chief Medical Officer at Dasman Diabetes Institute, explained that clinical obesity can damage organs and cause life-threatening complications, while preclinical obesity increases the risk of developing clinical obesity and other diseases.
A global panel, led by Professor Francisco Rubino of King’s College London, presented a new definition and diagnosis of clinical obesity in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
The Lancet Commission, which included Dr. Ebaa Al Ozairi, Chief Medical Officer at Dasman Diabetes Institute (founded by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences), aimed to redefine obesity, establish diagnostic criteria, and prioritize interventions and public health strategies.
Obesity is a global health challenge that requires comprehensive guidelines to address its impact. Dr. EbaaAl Ozairi commented that clinical obesity can severely damage organs and lead to life-threatening complications (e.g., heart attack, stroke, and renal failure). Preclinical obesity is a state of excess fat storage with maintained tissue and organ functions but an increased risk of developing clinical obesity and other non-communicable diseases (e.g., type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer).
To diagnose clinical obesity, healthcare professionals should look for one or both of the following: reduced organ function and/or the inability to carry out daily tasks due to excess fat.
Professor Carel le Roux from the Irish Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism stated that BMI should only be used to assess health risk at the population level, for epidemiological studies, or for screening purposes, and not to measure the health of an individual.
Dasman Diabetes Institute was the only institute in the MENA region to host this important live-streaming event. The full article can be found on The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal website, which is one of the leading journals in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism.
