A simple waist measurement may be nearly as effective as more complicated methods for detecting unhealthy levels of body fat, according to research from Rutgers Health. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that measuring waist circumference—either on its own or combined with body mass index (BMI)—was about as effective as a more complex new approach that uses multiple body measurements. This suggests that checking a person’s waist size could offer doctors and patients a practical, early way to identify potentially harmful levels of body fat and related health risks. The researchers analyzed data from 1,900 U.S. adults aged 20 to 59 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They compared different methods of identifying obesity with a highly accurate method for determining body fat. One of the methods tested was a new obesity framework created by a group of independent experts. This framework uses BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, and waist-to-hip ratio. While this newer method identified more people with excess body fat, the Rutgers team found that simpler methods, like BMI or waist circumference, were just as accurate. Using either BMI or waist circumference provided a better balance between correctly identifying people with obesity and avoiding false-positive diagnoses. Even when used alone, waist circumference performed nearly as well. This simplicity could be valuable in everyday medical practice. Hip circumference, which is needed for one of the measurements in the proposed framework, is rarely recorded during routine visits. In contrast, waist circumference is easier to measure and is becoming more common in clinical guidelines, the researchers noted. The study highlights that multiple complex measurements are not always necessary to identify obesity-related health risks. A waist measurement can provide much of the needed information and is practical for both doctors and patients. However, the findings also pointed out a key limitation of BMI. When used alone, BMI failed to identify many people who met the criteria for obesity based on body fat. This adds to ongoing concerns about relying solely on BMI, which doesn’t fully reflect differences in body composition or where fat is stored. Where body fat accumulates can be important for health, which is one reason waist circumference can offer information that BMI alone does not. The researchers suggest that using waist measurements more widely could make obesity screening more practical while still identifying many people at risk. These findings could influence future recommendations for obesity screening and encourage routine waist measurements to become a more common part of healthcare.