DXA Scans Show Obesity May Be More Prevalent Than We Thought

According to current government estimations, more than a third of American adults are obese -- meaning, they have a body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) of 30 or higher.

But researchers say that there may be a more accurate way of measuring obesity -- one that suggests the prevalence of the condition is a lot higher than we currently think. Their study is published in the journal PLoS ONE.

The New York researchers found that Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans better diagnose obesity than BMI, since they can measure body fat, muscle mass and bone density simultaneously.

When using this method, up to 39 percent of overweight Americans (meaning they have a BMI between 25 and 29.9) are, in fact, obese.

According to the latest data from the CDC, 34.4 percent of adults (ages 20 and older) are overweight, based on solely their BMIs. Therefore, up to an additional 13 percent of U.S. adults may actually be obese instead of overweight, when using the DXA scans.

The research included 9,088 people -- 63 percent female and 37 percent male -- whose BMI, DXA, insulin and leptin were all taken between 1998 and 2009. Their average BMI was 27.3, with a 31.3 average percent body fat.

"The BMI is an insensitive measure of obesity, prone to under-diagnosis, while direct fat measurements are superior because they show distribution of body fat," study researcher Dr. Eric Braverman, M.D., who is the founder and president of the nonprofit PATH Foundation NY, said in a statement. Braverman worked with Dr. Nirav Shah, M.D., M.P.H., who at the time of the research was an assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine. Shah is now the New York State Commissioner of Health.

The differences in how many people have obesity between BMI and DXA are especially evident for older women, and people who may have high levels of leptin, a hormone protein, in their blood. Leptin is linked with body fat.

"Currently, no other blood test or biomarker has been correlated with the rate of obesity," the researchers wrote in the study. "The use of both DXA and leptin levels offers the opportunity for more precise characterization of adiposity and better management of obesity."

Clarification: This article has been revised to clarify just how many people may actually be obese instead of overweight, considering this new way of measuring obesity.

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Comments

[fblovinglife]

12:43 PM on 06/01/2012

Any one know where I can get a DEXA scan in NYC?

[Halftrack]

07:51 PM on 04/19/2012

Oops....just dropped my vanilla wafer between the couch cushion. Do we really need a special X-Ray to tell us how fat we are? I know that I don't always eat healthy therefore I run a couple of miles in the morning. Not that hard folks, get off your keester and do work; you can still be healthy and carry a few extra pounds for the winter.

[VeggieLove]

12:02 AM on 04/11/2012

During my years as a food server, I learned a lot about the way people eat. Bigger people simply ate poorly. Lots of appetizers, big steaks, extra salad dressing, extra butter, and strangely enough, a diet soda. Smaller people almost always ordered leaner, smaller cuts of protein, and asked for all condiments on the side. For the most part being large is a choice. Eating copious amounts of food and a sedentary lifestyle is going to lead to obesity. There's no way around it.

[Nganga]

03:32 AM on 04/07/2012

People get fat because they eat more food. What else could be the reason? Remember the victims of the holocaust why they look like skeletons, its because they're deprived of food. Take the middle ground, and you'll be fine.

[Nganga]

03:21 AM on 04/07/2012

One Chinese doctor said, "The single culprit why Americans are obese and get more cancer and other diseases than any other country in the world is that they speak English." Learn at least one Asian language and you are less likely to get those diseases.

[Tootsiepop56]

06:13 PM on 04/05/2012

I just think of it as being greedy idk why. thats rude - and i understand how some people have medical problems, but not the whole world does.

[Tootsiepop56]

06:12 PM on 04/05/2012

This is going to sound harsh: PEOPLE STOP EATING EVERYTHING CALM DOWN. Step away from greasy food it just clogs your arteries. ugh and if we would just stop being so damn lazy! blehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[NCDoc]

12:49 PM on 04/04/2012

I tend to rely on a relatively inexpensive instrument for gauging obesity - my eyes ;) Seriously, though. This should be the number one health issue today (props to Ms. Obama). I have afriend who is a public school middle school teacher. He said 75% of his kids are fat (his words, not mine). We think healthcare is in a shambles now. Wait until all of us (that pay taxes, that is) are paying for all of the chronic (and expensive to treat) diseases that are linked to obesity. It's going to be a nightmare.

[Sebastian Baker]

12:08 AM on 04/04/2012

what is Life without your Health?
in the end—
do You want to live Quality or Quantity?
your body, your choice

[Claudia Roldan]

08:02 PM on 04/03/2012

Hopefully articles like this one help people realize that they need to make a change in their diet if they plan on living a healthy and long life! Here's a great list on Top Reasons to eat MORE often. For those that think dieting is all about starving yourselves, its not! http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/you_camp/top-reasons-to-eat-more-often?listitem_id=21801#list-item

[pattileigh]

07:12 PM on 04/03/2012

On the news they said people whose BMI's showed they were normal weight were actually obese judging by a scan looking for body fat. It would seem you can be called obese even when you don't look it judging by how much body fat you have versus muscles. I know the BMI doesn't work well for muscular people because they can weigh more and yet have low body fat. Well old people have much less muscle so I guess they have to look like a corpse to avoid being called "obese". Scanning people giving them more radiation is not the answer. We all know when we need to loose some weight and exercise most just refuse to do it.

[ginadeoliveira2008]

06:25 PM on 04/04/2012

LOLOLOL Lovely comment!

[onionboy]

03:28 PM on 04/03/2012

After having gone on a cruise a year ago...yes, it's way more prevalent than we thought!

However, seeing so many people jiggling back to their seats while carrying a plate filled 8-inches high with food was a great motivator for me not to do the same, to think about how much of what I was eating, and to use my free time to visit the gym on the ship twice a day.

I still had a great time. I still stuffed myself. I doubt I put on more than a pound, which is fine for a 7-day vacation.

[Claudia Roldan]

07:59 PM on 04/03/2012

this is probably the one reason I don't like going on cruises...so disgusted by the amount of obese people that go to the unlimited buffets and eat like there is no tomorrow. I'm a foodie but I like high quality food (and in high quality I'm just talking about Trader Joe's food or organic food). It's sad to see how often people take their health for granted.

[FlowerGypsy]

11:14 PM on 04/03/2012

Yeah it grosses me out too :p

[onionboy]

06:30 PM on 04/05/2012

I went on one of those monstrosity-size ships. There were twenty restaurants, including a sushi bar. So, there was some decent food to be found. We didn't have to settle for just the buffet. One trick is to eat out at every stop, so you can get some local cuisine. Another trick is to eat the regional cuisine of the crew. We had a lot of Indians and Filipinos, so there was always a section where they had some well made and fresh adobo chicken or some tikka masala or something like that. Plus...a ton of fruit because we were in the Caribbean.

And I did eat a lot, mainly because we would go to one place for an appetizer, another to eat another or dessert, drinks later somewhere else. So, I did enjoy the gluttony. But there appears to be a level far in excess of gluttony...and that seemed to be what just about everyone else on board was doing. Food seemed to be ALL they were doing. I indulged. I ordered a 3-egg omelet to my room one night just before midnight. Why? Because it was free and it was a vacation! But I didn't do it every night and I didn't order dessert with it, etc.

What I found most amazing was the reluctance to just get up and get more. They'd pile the plate so high. It's a 30-foot walk to go get something else or get more.

[sabelmouse]

11:11 AM on 04/04/2012

are you saying the population on a cruise ship translates to the general population of a given country?

[onionboy]

12:31 PM on 04/04/2012

I don't know, but possibly. It's probably a better spectrum of the population than one gets in just their own local environment. That's what I was awoken to at least.

[urkiddinme]

10:13 AM on 04/05/2012

I'm saying it does. Disneyland as well. Try going there; you'll see eleven year old girls who look 5 months pregnant and elementary school age boys with B cup breasts.

[mysaltydog]

02:51 PM on 04/03/2012

Duh... All you have to do is walk down the street and look at the people you see.

[George Tuttle]

02:53 PM on 04/03/2012

That's a pretty fat puffin there...

[mysaltydog]

03:15 PM on 04/03/2012

It's the waterproof feathers make it appear overweight.

[Trentonjordan]

02:39 PM on 04/03/2012

I went to a Chicago Bulls game last week......Obesity is quite prevalent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ajm8127]

03:18 PM on 04/03/2012

Imagine if those people at the game who were stuffing their face, guzzling their drinks and sitting on their butts decided not to go to the game, but to go to a park and play it instead.

[Claudia Roldan]

07:57 PM on 04/03/2012

That would be the day. I remember visiting NY in the summertime and noticing an outdoor Yoga class in Central Park..it actually seemed strange to watch because its not very common.