Trends in Diagnosing Obesity: The CALOR Study

This study aimed to describe characteristics of people with elevated BMI by presence versus absence of obesity diagnosis and trends over time.

Data from adults with recorded BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² (United States [US]; Optum's deidentified Clinformatics Data Mart database) or ≥ 25 kg/m² (Japan; Medical Data Vision) between 2016 and 2024 were included. Characteristics were described at index (most recent BMI or obesity diagnosis), stratified by presence versus absence of prior recorded obesity diagnosis.

In the United States (N = 3,584,120; 70.1% with obesity diagnosis), prevalence of interrelated diseases was high overall and higher in those with versus without obesity diagnosis, e.g., type 2 diabetes (49.3% vs. 29.9%), chronic kidney disease (32.9% vs. 18.8%), and heart failure (23.3% vs. 9.8%). In Japan (N = 3,140,900; 2.3% with obesity diagnosis), interrelated disease burden was also higher in those with versus without obesity diagnosis, e.g., type 2 diabetes (42.2% vs. 25.9%) and chronic kidney disease (14.3% vs. 8.6%). In the United States, interrelated disease burden was generally higher for those first diagnosed in 2024 versus those diagnosed in 2016-2020.

In people with elevated BMI in the United States and Japan, there was underdiagnosis of obesity and a high prevalence of interrelated diseases.