A new report notes that the amount of belly fat a patient has is a more useful metric for determining obesity than traditional BMI measurements. The report was published in the journal 'The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology' on Jan.

A global group of experts has suggested a new approach to diagnosing and treating obesity that does not rely solely on the much-contested body mass index (BMI).

When the issue is obesity, the questions are many, and the routes to answers anything but straight. What is abundantly clear is a need for consensus on two foundational matters: What is a useful definition for obesity?