Dietitians are hoping recent debate around the merit of the Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine a person’s health extends to re-thinking body size as a measure of wellbeing.
Dietitians Australia President Fiona Willer said the global discussion sparked following the release of the Lancet Commission’s definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity was an opportunity to ensure people, regardless of their body size, received the healthcare they needed.
Dr Willer said health professionals should not overemphasise body size and shape as an indication health.
She said the focus needed to be on conducting robust, holistic individual assessments to ensure people received supportive healthcare.
“People deserve access to the healthcare they need when they need it– regardless of their body size.”
Dr Willer said body size may inform part of the planning for that care, but it shouldn’t be the primary target of any treatment needed.
“While we welcome the approach to be more modern – including adding a suite of options beyond BMI – we really must be extremely cognisant of the impact of pathologising body size.
“It is so important as health professionals we continue to ensure we treat the whole person.”
Dr Willer said people living in larger bodies who see healthcare professionals with a health concern were at risk of having their concern ignored or incorrectly attributed to their body weight.
“We must ensure that proper duty of care is taken in every circumstance, and this includes further investigations being undertaken to identify an individual’s condition or concern, including malnutrition and eating disorders, even when presenting in a larger body size.”
