THURSDAY, June 4, 2026 (NewsDay News) — The prevalence of clinical obesity is high among those with normal body mass index (BMI) values, according to a research letter published online June 2. Annals of internal diseases.
Hirsch Elhens, MD, of the Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, and colleagues used anthropometric measurements to determine the prevalence of overweight, preclinical obesity, and clinical obesity by BMI class. Each patient was classified according to BMI class (underweight, normal, overweight, or obese class I, II, or III), overweight status, preclinical obesity status, and clinical obesity status.
Data for 5,642 pregnant US adults were included. The researchers found that the adjusted overall prevalence of obesity by definition for abnormal BMI and one abnormal anthropometric measurement varied from 40.9 to 77.6 percent, compared with two to three abnormal anthropometric measurements, regardless of BMI. Adjusted overall prevalence for preclinical obesity and clinical obesity was observed (24.2 vs. 53.8 percent). Adjusted prevalence of clinical obesity by BMI class: 26.1, 50.3, and 85.3 percent for those with normal BMI, overweight, and class III obesity.
“BMI is problematic because it does not specifically measure body fat and instead reflects total body weight, which includes muscle and bone,” said lead author Brian P. Lee, MD, of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, in a statement. “So a muscular person can have a very high BMI but not have excess fat, while someone who doesn’t have a lot of muscle can have a normal BMI but have excess fat that causes health problems.”
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