{"id":1967,"date":"2026-01-18T19:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T19:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/?p=1967"},"modified":"2026-01-18T19:03:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T19:03:01","slug":"new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"New meta\u00adbolic BMI: When body weight doesn\u2019t paint the whole picture"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic body mass index (BMI) is robust, simple \u2013 and, as we know, rather crude. In our blog post on the Body Round\u00adness Index<\/a>, we have already shown how much measu\u00adre\u00adments of body shape can diverge and how little they some\u00adtimes contri\u00adbute to risk assess\u00adment in ever\u00adyday clinical prac\u00adtice. Now there is another chal\u00adlenger: the meta\u00adbolic BMI (metBMI) .<\/p>\n

The metBMI is not based on body measu\u00adre\u00adments, but on an AI-supported model of blood meta\u00adbolites. It was deve\u00adloped by rese\u00adar\u00adchers at the Univer\u00adsi\u00adties of Leipzig and Gothen\u00adburg. The starting point is a known weak\u00adness of the BMI: up to 30% of people of normal weight already have meta\u00adbolic disor\u00adders, whereas some over\u00adweight people remain meta\u00adbo\u00adli\u00adcally normal. The BMI does not capture the func\u00adtional quality of adipose tissue.<\/p>\n

The new index is the result of a study published in Nature Medi\u00adcine invol\u00adving almost 2,000 parti\u00adci\u00adpants, in which exten\u00adsive multi-omics data was analysed. From over 1,000 meta\u00adbolites, the authors iden\u00adti\u00adfied a clini\u00adcally mana\u00adgeable panel of 66 markers that accu\u00adra\u00adtely reflect obesity-related dysfunc\u00adtions. An elevated metBMI was asso\u00adciated with a two- to five-fold higher risk of meta\u00adbolic fatty liver, type 2 diabetes, visceral fat accu\u00admu\u00adla\u00adtion, insulin resis\u00adtance and systemic inflamm\u00ada\u00adtion \u2013 regard\u00adless of actual BMI. In addi\u00adtion, indi\u00advi\u00adduals with high metBMI lost around 30% less weight after baria\u00adtric surgery, suggesting meta\u00adbolic \u2018therapy resistance\u2019.<\/p>\n

Parti\u00adcu\u00adlarly exci\u00adting is the link with the gut micro\u00adbiome: as metBMI increased, the diver\u00adsity of gut bacteria decreased, as did their ability to produce protec\u00adtive short-chain fatty acids such as buty\u00adrate \u2013 a possible mecha\u00adni\u00adstic link between obesity, chronic inflamm\u00ada\u00adtion and insulin resistance.<\/p>\n

What does this mean in prac\u00adtice? While the Body Round\u00adness Index (BRI), Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) and Waist-to-Height Ratio (WtHR) prima\u00adrily quan\u00adtify fat distri\u00adbu\u00adtion, metBMI addresses the biolo\u00adgical quality of adipose tissue. It could help to iden\u00adtify high-risk pati\u00adents earlier, perso\u00adna\u00adlise treat\u00adment decis\u00adions and break the \u2018weight equals risk\u2019 para\u00addigm. The scales remain important \u2013 but they now have meta\u00adbolic competition.<\/p>\n

Chakaroun RM et al. Multi-omic defi\u00adni\u00adtion of meta\u00adbolic obesity through adipose tissue-micro\u00adbiome inter\u00adac\u00adtions. Nat Med. Published online 2 January 2026.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The classic body mass index (BMI) is robust, simple \u2013 and, as we know, rather crude. In our blog post on the Body Round\u00adness Index, we have already shown how much measu\u00adre\u00adments of body shape can diverge and how little they some\u00adtimes contri\u00adbute to risk assess\u00adment in ever\u00adyday clinical prac\u00adtice. Now there is another challenger: [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNew metabolic BMI: When body weight doesn't paint the whole picture • PK Pharmakommunikation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New metabolic BMI: When body weight doesn't paint the whole picture • PK Pharmakommunikation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The classic body mass index (BMI) is robust, simple \u2013 and, as we know, rather crude. In our blog post on the Body Round\u00adness Index, we have already shown how much measu\u00adre\u00adments of body shape can diverge and how little they some\u00adtimes contri\u00adbute to risk assess\u00adment in ever\u00adyday clinical prac\u00adtice. Now there is another chal\u00adlenger: […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PK Pharmakommunikation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-18T19:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-18T19:03:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1028\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1028\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c09686d559e7fc144b0cde96970f2313\"},\"headline\":\"New meta\u00adbolic BMI: When body weight doesn\u2019t paint the whole picture\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-18T19:00:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-18T19:03:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/\"},\"wordCount\":343,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/\",\"name\":\"New metabolic BMI: When body weight doesn't paint the whole picture • PK Pharmakommunikation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-18T19:00:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-18T19:03:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg\",\"width\":1028,\"height\":1028},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New metabolic BMI: When body weight doesn’t paint the whole picture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/\",\"name\":\"PK Pharmakommunikation\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PK Pharmakommunikation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/pk-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/pk-logo.svg\",\"width\":566,\"height\":160,\"caption\":\"PK Pharmakommunikation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c09686d559e7fc144b0cde96970f2313\",\"name\":\"Elke\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New metabolic BMI: When body weight doesn't paint the whole picture • PK Pharmakommunikation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New metabolic BMI: When body weight doesn't paint the whole picture • PK Pharmakommunikation","og_description":"The classic body mass index (BMI) is robust, simple \u2013 and, as we know, rather crude. In our blog post on the Body Round\u00adness Index, we have already shown how much measu\u00adre\u00adments of body shape can diverge and how little they some\u00adtimes contri\u00adbute to risk assess\u00adment in ever\u00adyday clinical prac\u00adtice. Now there is another chal\u00adlenger: […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/","og_site_name":"PK Pharmakommunikation","article_published_time":"2026-01-18T19:00:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-18T19:03:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1028,"height":1028,"url":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elke","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/"},"author":{"name":"Elke","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c09686d559e7fc144b0cde96970f2313"},"headline":"New meta\u00adbolic BMI: When body weight doesn\u2019t paint the whole picture","datePublished":"2026-01-18T19:00:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-18T19:03:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/"},"wordCount":343,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/","name":"New metabolic BMI: When body weight doesn't paint the whole picture • PK Pharmakommunikation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-18T19:00:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-18T19:03:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/metBMI_PK_engl.jpg","width":1028,"height":1028},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/blog\/new-metabolic-bmi-when-body-weight-doesnt-paint-the-whole-picture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New metabolic BMI: When body weight doesn’t paint the whole picture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/","name":"PK Pharmakommunikation","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#organization","name":"PK Pharmakommunikation","url":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/pk-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/pk-logo.svg","width":566,"height":160,"caption":"PK Pharmakommunikation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c09686d559e7fc144b0cde96970f2313","name":"Elke"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1967"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1971,"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967\/revisions\/1971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pk-pharmakommunikation.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}