The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) delved into data to develop improved measures of metabolic health, resulting in a biological body mass index (BMI) that surpasses traditional BMI in accuracy and usefulness.
This newly devised BMI incorporates diverse measures that provide more informative and actionable information.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
For many years, healthcare professionals have used body mass index (BMI) as a basic tool to categorize individuals into underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. BMI is computed by dividing an individual’s weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared.
However, approximately 30% of individuals are incorrectly classified by this method. Despite its drawbacks, BMI remains a useful and widely recognized metric in clinical settings due to its association with numerous chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
“For years, BMI has been the go-to measure for doctors to classify individuals based on their height and weight in comparison to an average person,” adds corresponding author Noa Rappaport.
But, “this average person doesn’t truly exist.
“We now have the capability to use advanced molecular measurements as a more comprehensive representation of a person’s metabolic health, which can be used to make more accurate clinical recommendations for individuals.”
A group of researchers led by Rappaport analyzed a sample of 1,000 individuals who participated in a wellness program. The researchers conducted multi-omic profiling, examining over 1,100 blood analytes, including proteins and metabolites, as well as genetic risk scores and gut microbiome composition, collected at various intervals.
Subsequently, the team employed machine learning models to develop more precise predictive models of a biological body mass index (BMI) than traditional BMI measures alone.
The research team uncovered a number of significant results, such as:
- Individuals with a high biological BMI and normal traditional BMI exhibited poorer health, but were more successful at losing weight through lifestyle interventions.
- People classified as obese by traditional BMI but with a normal biological BMI were more biologically healthy, yet faced greater difficulty losing weight.
- Biological BMI was more responsive to positive lifestyle changes, dropping earlier than traditional BMI.
The study’s results indicate that adopting healthy lifestyle practices can lead to biological improvements even if an individual is not losing weight.
Kengo Watanabe, PhD, lead author of the research and K. Carole Ellison Fellow in Bioinformatics, believes that this work is a crucial resource for understanding the molecular alterations linked with metabolic health and obesity. He also believes that it has the potential to considerably enhance the creation of preventive and predictive clinical strategies for managing metabolic disorders.
Rappaport adds: “We have demonstrated the value of multi-omic profiling to reveal important insights into the complex relationships between obesity, metabolic health and chronic disease, and emphasized the need to consider a range of factors beyond traditional measures of BMI in understanding and addressing these issues.”
Source: 10.1038/s41591-023-02248-0
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