BMI may be misdiagnosing body weight in people, study warns | The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentIndependentSwipe for next articleIndependent Bulletin homepageDownload our appAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleStorm NewtonSaturday 28 March 2026 01:45 GMTMore children now obese than underweight for first time everA study by Italian researchers suggests the Body Mass Index (BMI) system may frequently misdiagnose individuals as overweight or obese.The research compared BMI measurements with more accurate dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans in 1,351 adults.Findings revealed that over a third of patients classified as obese by BMI were actually overweight, and more than half of those labelled overweight were misclassified.Specifically, three-quarters of the misclassified overweight patients were found to be of normal weight when assessed by DXA scans.Researchers recommend that healthcare professionals should not rely solely on BMI, suggesting it be combined with other measures like body fat percentage or waist circumference.In fullBMI ‘misclassifying’ people as overweight or obese, new study warnsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in