蜜芽传媒

A team in Italy has found that many middle-aged adults who believe they're a healthy weight, may actually be obese.

Instead of looking at BMI or Body Mass Index - your weight in kilos divided by the square of your height in metres - they looked at the percentage of body fat in nearly five thousand adults between the ages of 40 and 80.

About 40% had a BMI above 30 -- the marker for obesity. But when they looked at body fat - the number went up to around 70%.

They say the BMI threshold for obesity should be lowered to give a better idea of who's at risk from things like heart disease and type two diabetes.

Newshour's James Menendez spoke to Maria Bryant, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of York in the UK and asked her if BMI as a measure is underestimating levels of obesity.

(picture; obese man; credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)