Anthropometric screening for obesity in the Asian adult population.

The prevalence of obesity in the Asia-Pacific region is rising rapidly to meet levels observed in Western populations. The impact of obesity is significant on both the patient and the affected national health systems, increasing morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. However, prevention programmes may slow the development of the obesity epidemic. In order to be effective, these programmes must target correctly identified, at-risk individuals. Anthropometric measurements such as body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and waist circumference (WC) are practical and inexpensive indices for identifying overweight and obese patients. There is growing concern that the widely recommended BMI cut-offs may not be universally applicable across all populations. In light of this, the current BMI cut-offs must be reviewed and WHtR and WC must be given greater consideration when designing primary prevention programmes for Asian populations, particularly as recommended guidelines are frequently based predominantly on data from European and North American regions. This means that the guidelines currently being used by healthcare providers simply may not be relevant to Asian patients. These patients may be incorrectly stratified into a given weight category that could result in missed opportunities to prevent serious health problems such as hypertension and diabetes. Clearly, there is a need to reassess the current guidelines and explore indices that are most suitable for this population.