US Edition
BMI system could 'misclassify' people as overweight or obese, says study
A study of 1,351 adults found 34% of those classified as obese by WHO BMI were overweight by DXA, with overall overweight/obesity prevalence differing between methods.
- On Friday, March 27, 2026, researchers published a study in the journal Nutrients showing the WHO BMI system misclassifies significant numbers of Italian adults when compared to DXA, the gold standard for measuring body fat.
- Professor Marwan El Ghoch of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia explained that BMI fails to capture adiposity, which is essential for determining weight-related health risks, despite remaining widely used in clinical and non-clinical settings.
- The analysis revealed that 53% of individuals with an overweight BMI were misclassified, while 34% of those labeled obese by the system should actually be categorized as overweight.
- Study co-author Professor Chiara Milanese of the University of Verona recommends public health guidelines combine BMI with direct body composition measures, such as waist-to-height ratios, for improved accuracy.
- While the study focused on 1,351 White Caucasian adults in Italy, researchers suggest similar patterns likely exist in other populations, though further research is needed to confirm global applicability across different ethnic groups.
12 Articles
12 Articles
New analysis reveals flaws in traditional BMI classification system
Research from Italy to be presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026, Istanbul, Turkey, 12-15 May) and published in the journal Nutrients shows that when the gold standard technique of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is used to measure body fat in the general population, it shows that the traditional WHO body mass index (BMI) classification system misidentifies significant numbers of people as having overweight or obe…
Sky News UK
Great Yorkshire RadioBMI system could 'misclassify' people as overweight or obese, says study
Scans revealed 34% of patients who were obese based on BMI were misclassified, and should have been in the overweight category. And 53% of those labelled overweight based on BMI were in the wrong category.
The Independent
The Independent (US)BMI ‘misclassifying’ people as overweight or obese, new study warns
Researchers in Italy compared the tool to scans which provide an analysis of fat, muscle and bone in the body
Your BMI Might Be Wrong: Study Finds Millions Are Misclassified
BMI might be misleading millions about their true health status. New research from Italy, set to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026, Istanbul, Turkey, 12-15 May) and published in Nutrients, suggests that the widely used body mass index (BMI) system may not be as reliable as once thought. When researchers used [...]
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