Beyond BMI: Indian Doctors Introduce Innovative Obesity Guidelines to Combat Rising Rates

In 2024, the Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of India (OSSI) published the first update of guidelines for obesity management in 15 years.

These guidelines consider obesity as a multifactorial disease involving genetic, environmental, metabolic, and hormonal factors. In addition, these guidelines focus more on the comprehensive approach of its associated functional, psychological, and metabolic conditions and no longer relies solely on BMI. 

Recommendations are for multidisciplinary treatment approaches with lifestyle modifications, pharmacotherapy, endoscopic procedures, and bariatric surgery to be adopted on the basis of individual patient profiles. This is the initiative taken towards standardizing the treatment of obesity in India by tackling the alarming rise in prevalence of obesity and its health-related complications.

Source: Medical Dialogues,Healthcare Radius, Hindustan Times