Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:12:58.447Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Universal cut-off BMI points for obesity are not appropriate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Paul Deurenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition and EpidemiologyWageningen UniversityThe Netherlands and Department of Physiology and NutritionUniversity ‘Tor Vergata’RomeItaly
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Invited commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2001

References

Deurenberg, P, Ge, K, Hautvast, JGAJ & Wang, J (1997) Body mass index as predictor for body fat: comparison between Chinese and Dutch adult subjects Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 6, 102105.Google ScholarPubMed
Deurenberg, P, Yap, M & van Staveren, WA (1998) Body mass index and percent body fat: a meta analysis among different ethnic groups International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 22, 11641171.Google Scholar
Deurenberg-Yap, M, Schmidt, G, van Staveren, WA & Deurenberg, P (2000) The paradox of low body mass index and high body fat percent among Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 24, 10111017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, D, Heymsfield, SB, Heo, M, Jebb, S, Murgatroyd, PR & Sakamato, Y (2000) Health percentage fat ranges: an approach for developing guidelines based on body mass index. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 72, 694701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallagher, D, Visser, M, Sepulveda, D, Pierson, RN, Harris, T & Heymsfield, SB (1996) How useful is body mass index for comparison of body fatness across age, sex and ethnic groups? American Journal of Epidemiology 143, 229239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guricci, S, Hartriyanti, Y, Hautvast, JGAJ & Deurenberg, P (1999) Differences in the relationship between body fat and body mass index between two different Indonesian ethnic groups: The effect of body build European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 53, 468472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ko, GTC, Tang, J, Chan, JCN, Wu, MMF, Wai, HPS & Chen, R (2001) Lower body mass index cut-off value to define obesity in Hong Kong Chinese: an analysis based on body fat assessment by bioelectrical impedance. British Journal of Nutrition 85, 239242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luke, A, Durazo-Arvizzu, R, Rotimi, C, Prewitt, E, Forrester, T, Wilks, R, Ogunbiyi, OL, Schoeller, DA, McGee, D & Cooper, RS (1997) Relation between BMI and body fat in black population samples from Nigeria, Jamaica and the United States American Journal of Epidemiology 145, 620628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministry of Health (1999) Report of the National Health Survey 1998. Singapore: Epidemiology and Disease Control Department.Google Scholar
Norgan, NG (1994) Population differences in body composition in relation to the body mass index European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48, Suppl. 3, S10-S27.Google ScholarPubMed
Swinburn, BA, Craig, PL, Daniel, R, Dent, DPD & Strauss, BJG (1996) Body composition differences between Polynesians and Caucasians assessed by bioelectrical impedance International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 20, 889894.Google ScholarPubMed
Wang, J, Thornton, JC, Russell, M, Burastero, S, Heymsfield, SB & Pierson, RN (1994) Asians have lower BMI but higher percent body fat than do Whites: comparisons of anthropometric measurements American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 60, 2328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (1995) Physical Status: The Use and Interpretation of Anthropometry. Technical Report Series no: 854. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1998) Obesity: Preventing Managing the Global Epidemic. Report on a WHO Consultation on Obesity. Geneva, 35 June, 1997. WHO/NUT/NCD/98.1. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar