Premium
Koreans Do Not Have Higher Percent Body Fat than Australians: Implication for the Diagnosis of Obesity in Asians
Author(s) -
Pham Duong Duc,
Lee Seung Ku,
Shin Chol,
Kim Nan Hee,
Eisman John A.,
Center Jacqueline R.,
Nguyen Tuan V.,
Leem Chae Hun
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1002/oby.22610
Subject(s) - medicine , obesity , demography , body mass index , significant difference , fat mass , dual energy , gerontology , osteoporosis , bone mineral , sociology
Objective It has been assumed that, for a given BMI, Asians have higher percent body fat (PBF) than Caucasians. As a result, it has been suggested that the BMI threshold for diagnosing obesity in Asians be lowered to less than 30 kg/m 2 . This study sought to compare PBF between Koreans and Australians. Methods Whole‐body fat mass and PBF were measured in 1,211 Koreans and 1,006 Australians using dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry (Lunar Prodigy; GE Healthcare, Madison, Wisconsin). The two groups were then matched for age and BMI by the propensity score method. Results For a given age and BMI, Koreans had lower PBF than Australians, and the difference was statistically significant in women (mean difference: −2.13%; 95% CI: −2.61% to −1.65%) but not in men (difference: −0.54%; 95% CI: −1.22% to 0.14%). Matched‐pair analysis (423 pairs of women and 208 pairs of men) also showed that Korean women had statistically lower PBF than their Australian counterparts ( P < 0.001). Conclusions In individuals aged 60 years and older, Koreans do not have higher PBF than Australians after adjusting for BMI. These results suggest that there is no evidence for lowering the BMI threshold for the diagnosis of obesity in elderly Koreans.