AIIMS Professor warns BMI is insufficient for assessing obesity risks

At an obesity-related summit, Dr. Naval Vikram, a professor at AIIMS New Delhi, stated that Body Mass Index (BMI) alone is an insufficient measure for assessing health risks. He noted that BMI fails to distinguish between muscle mass and body fat, which can lead to inaccurate classifications for individuals like athletes.

Dr. Vikram emphasized that the primary health threat comes from metabolically active fat stored around the abdomen and waist, rather than fat on the thighs. This abdominal fat can trigger the production of hormones and cytokines that negatively impact internal organs, increasing the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

As a healthier metric, he suggested monitoring the waist-to-height ratio, advising that a person's waist circumference should not exceed half of their total height. He also addressed the use of specialized injectable medications for treating obesity in children and the importance of dietary improvements and government guidelines.