Obesity Risks For Asians Show
One Size Doesn't Fit All: WHO

Ample Asians face obesity-related illnesses just like their plump American, Canadian and British counterparts, but current medical standards are ill-adapted to evaluate their risks, say experts from the World Health Organization (WHO).

A study commissioned by WHO found that one size does not fit all in calculating who is overweight or obese -- a key factor in the development of type-2 diabetes and heart disease.

A significant percentage of Asians who are at risk for the life-threatening diseases have a body-mass index, or BMI, which would not currently send up any warning flags according to WHO standards, the researchers wrote in the January 10 edition of the British medical journal The Lancet.

BMI is used by doctors to determine overweight and obesity. It is calculated by dividing a person's weight, in kilograms, by his height, squared, in meters.

The WHO's cut-off points for normal bodies is between 18.5 and 24.9. Overweight begins at 25 points, and obesity from 30.

But in Asians, the respective BMI cut-off points should be set at between 22 and 25 for overweight, and 26 to 31 for obesity, the experts argue.

While BMI cut-off points are useful as international standards, they said, readjusting them for different countries would be a better way to judge health risks.

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