Medical experts have urged a shift away from the Body Mass Index (BMI) as the main yardstick to determine obesity as it does not factor in body fat levels. The prevalent method is so flawed that it may have likely led to fit athletes being told they are overweight,

“We recommend that BMI should be used only as a surrogate measure of health risk at a population level, for epidemiological studies, or for screening purposes, rather than as an individual measure of health,” the report reads.

A group of experts says Body Mass Index, or BMI, used by doctors to measure obesity, is not a good method. CBS News medical contributor Dr. Celine Gounder explains the new recommendations.

Body Mass Index, or BMI, has long been criticized as an unreliable method for measuring obesity — and now a group of experts is sharing new recommendations for how to use it.

Urging an overhaul of how obesity is diagnosed, a Lancet Global Commission report has recommended a new, nuanced approach that looks at measures of body fat such as waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio in addition to body mass index or BMI to detect obesity.

A global commission gathered by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology magazine argues that BMI, the conventional method for assessing obesity, yields inaccurate results. They recommend confirming obesity through additional body measurements like waist circumference or direct body fat measurement and categorizing it into clinical and pre-clinical obesity based on symptoms and functional impairment.