Does Body Mass Index Predict Overweight in Native Asian Indians? A Study from a North Indian Population

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Abstract
Aims: Body mass index (BMI) has been considered as a gold standard for defining overweight and obesity, and in western populations it has correlated with percentage body fat (%BF). However, data in native Asian Indians regarding BMI and %BF is conflicting and questions have been raised to redefine the BMI cut-off values in these subjects. Subjects and Methods: 150 healthy volunteers (79 men and 71 women aged 18–78 and 23–75 years respectively) were recruited for the study. Clinical examination was performed to exclude any systemic disease. Anthropometric measurements were done and %BF was calculated from skinfold thickness. Results: The BMI for men was 24.96 kg/m2 (±3.85) and for women was 25.75 kg/m2 (±4.39).%BF calculated by skinfold thickness was 21.94% (±5.92) in men and 35.15% (±5.77) in women. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed a higher sensitivity (92%) and higher negative predictive value (95%) for the conventional cut-off value of the BMI (25 kg/m2) in identifying subjects with overweight with %BF of more than 25% in men. However, in females a BMI of 23.9 kg/m2 had a sensitivity of 84% and negative predictive value of 62% thereby decreasing the misclassification by 13% with %BF of more than 30% as compared to conventional BMI cut-off of >25 kg/m2. A comparison of BF data amongst Caucasians, Blacks and migrant ethnic Asians revealed inconspicuous differences in men. Conclusion: Native North Indian men had comparative BMI and %BF as that of their western counterparts.