Ethnic differences in the relationship between body mass index and percentage body fat among Asian children from different backgrounds

Abstract

Overweight and obesity in Asian children are increasing at an alarming rate; therefore a better understanding of the relationship between BMI and percentage body fat (%BF) in this population is important. A total of 1039 children aged 8 -10 years, encompassing a wide BMI range, were recruited from China, Lebanon, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. Body composition was determined using the 2 H dilution technique to quantify total body water and subsequently fat mass, fat-free mass and %BF. Ethnic differences in the BMI -%BF relationship were found; for example, %BF in Filipino boys was approximately 2 % lower than in their Thai and Malay counterparts. In contrast, Thai girls had approximately 2·0 % higher %BF values than in their Chinese, Lebanese, Filipino and Malay counterparts at a given BMI. However, the ethnic difference in the BMI-%BF relationship varied by BMI. Compared with Caucasian children of the same age, Asian children had 3 -6 units lower BMI at a given %BF. Approximately one-third of the obese Asian children (%BF above 25 % for boys and above 30 % for girls) in the study were not identified using the WHO classification and more than half using the International Obesity Task Force classification. Use of the Chinese classification increased the sensitivity. Results confirmed the necessity to consider ethnic differences in body composition when developing BMI cut-points and other obesity criteria in Asian children.

Total body water measurement using the 2H dilution technique for the assessment of body composition of Kuwaiti children

“…Correlations between %BF and BMI were R 2 5 0?698 for girls and R 2 5 0?7504 for boys in the present study. These results are in agreement with data presented by Liu et al (9) .…”

“…For example, Filipino boys had lower %BF than Malay and Thai boys, while Thai girls had Table 2 Age, body weight, body height, BMI and body composition assessment (total body water (TBW), fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass (FM) and percentage body fat (%BF), as well as fat-free mass index (FFMI) and fat mass index (FMI)), of 7-9-year-old Kuwaiti boys and girls participating in the study. P values refer to comparisons between genders Boys (n 75) Girls (n 83) (9) , Kuwaiti children in the present study were in a similar range of BMI (13?5-35?7 kg/m 2 v. 12?2-34?9 kg/m 2 ) and %BF (14?2-57?5 % v. 5?5-54?5 %) if the extreme value of 5?5 %BF in reference 9 is disregarded. In the Kuwaiti children, a wide range of %BF was observed within normal-weight, overweight and obese boys and girls.…”

Association between the Body Mass Index and the Risk of Barrett's Esophagus in Japan

“…The difference in cutoffs of BMI for a variety of obesity-related disorders between Caucasian and Asian populations is supposed to be due to ethnic differences in the relationship between BMI and body fat deposits. That is, Asian people have a greater percentage of body fat at any given BMI compared to Caucasian people [50,51]. Thus, body fat deposits rather than the BMI itself are responsible for the susceptibility to obesity-related disorders [50,51].…”

“…That is, Asian people have a greater percentage of body fat at any given BMI compared to Caucasian people [50,51]. Thus, body fat deposits rather than the BMI itself are responsible for the susceptibility to obesity-related disorders [50,51]. In addition, although various GERD-related parameters, especially the presence of hiatal hernia, turned out to be strong risk factors for BE in the present study, the emerging positive associations between BMI and BE were not attenuated after adjustment for these GERD-related parameters, suggesting that the association between BMI and BE was largely mediated by other mechanisms besides GERD.…”

Body mass index vs deuterium dilution method for establishing childhood obesity prevalence, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Senegal, Tunisia and United Republic of Tanzania

“…We aimed to measure total body water in all participants using the deuterium dilution method, as described previously 11 , 14 . We used standard operating procedures, with training support provided for all countries via a combination of residential and on-site training by experts recruited by the International Atomic Energy Agency.…”