When weighing your patient:
- Ensure weighing scales are in an area which offer privacy
- Ensure weighing scales measure greater than 200 kg
- Refrain from announcing your patient’s weight in a non-private area
DIAGNOSE: BMI and waist circumference
BMI and waist circumference are important measures for evaluating obesity-related health risks.1 There are several things that you as a healthcare provider can do in order to make this experience as comfortable for your patient as possible.
What to expect:
Assess BMI (Body Mass Index)
Diagnosing obesity begins with assessing your patient’s BMI – this is a simple measurement of your patient’s weight (kg) divided by the square of their height in metres.2
The World Health Organization propose a BMI-centric classification system to guide population level and clinical decision-making strategies.2
|
Classification |
BMI |
|---|---|
Obesity | ≥30 |
Obesity class I | ≥30 and <35 |
Obesity class II | ≥35 and <40 |
Obesity class III | ≥40 |
Measure waist circumference
Waist circumference is an important measure for evaluating health risks. Below is a guide on how you can make this a more comfortable experience for your patient:1
- Ask the person to stand facing you
- Hand them one end of the measuring tape and ask them to hold it at their belly button
- Request they make one turn so that the tape wraps around their waist
- Grasp both ends of the tape and adjust it to ensure the tape is at the level of the upper hip bones and record their waist circumference
Waist circumference cut-offs to identify increased relative risk for the development of obesity-related complications3
Men | > 102cm |
Women | > 88cm |
References
1. NHLBI. The Practical Guide Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2003/. Last accessed: October 2020.
2. WHO. Obesity: Preventing and managing the global epidemic. Available at: http://www.who.int/iris/handle/10665/42330 Last accessed: October 2020.
3. Durrer Schutz D, Busetto L, Dicker D, et al. European Practical and Patient-Centred Guidelines for Adult Obesity Management in Primary Care. Obes Facts. 2019; 12:40–66.
HQ20OB00138, Approval date: December 2020
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