PLoS ONE
Volume 6, Issue 10, 2011

Defining obesity cut-off points for migrant south asians (Article) (Open Access)

Gray L.J. , Yates T. , Davies M.J. , Brady E. , Webb D.R. , Sattar N. , Khunti K.*
  • a Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
  • b Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
  • c Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
  • d Department of Diabetes Research, University Hospitals of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
  • e Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
  • f Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
  • g Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Abstract

Background: Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are used to define cardiovascular and type 2 diabetes risk. We aimed to derive appropriate BMI and WC obesity cut-off points in a migrant South Asian population. Methods: 4688 White Europeans and 1333 South Asians resident in the UK aged 40-75 years inclusive were screened for type 2 diabetes. Principal components analysis was used to derive a glycaemia, lipid, and a blood pressure factor. Regression models for each factor, adjusted for age and stratified by sex, were used to identify BMI and WC cut-off points in South Asians that correspond to those defined for White Europeans. Findings: For South Asian males, derived BMI obesity cut-off points equivalent to 30.0 kg/m 2 in White Europeans were 22.6 kg/m 2 (95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) 20.7 kg/m 2 to 24.5 kg/m 2) for the glycaemia factor, 26.0 kg/m 2 (95% CI 24.7 kg/m 2 to 27.3 kg/m 2) for the lipid factor, and 28.4 kg/m 2 (95% CI 26.5 kg/m 2 to 30.4 kg/m 2) for the blood pressure factor. For WC, derived cut-off points for South Asian males equivalent to 102 cm in White Europeans were 83.8 cm (95% CI 79.3 cm to 88.2 cm) for the glycaemia factor, 91.4 cm (95% CI 86.9 cm to 95.8 cm) for the lipid factor, and 99.3 cm (95% CI 93.3 cm to 105.2 cm) for the blood pressure factor. Lower ethnicity cut-off points were seen for females for both BMI and WC. Conclusions: Substantially lower obesity cut-off points are needed in South Asians to detect an equivalent level of dysglycemia and dyslipidemia as observed in White Europeans. South Asian ethnicity could be considered as a similar level of risk as obesity (in White Europeans) for the development of type 2 diabetes. © 2011 Gray et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

disease classification Asian Caucasian Waist Circumference non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus Cardiovascular Diseases Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 human risk assessment sex difference middle aged Asia controlled study obesity hypertension Aged screening test Great Britain ethnology hemoglobin A1c Humans ethnic difference cardiovascular disease male female risk factor Risk Factors Article glucose blood level major clinical study adult migration United Kingdom high density lipoprotein cholesterol triacylglycerol dyslipidemia blood pressure measurement glucose body mass disease association Body Mass Index pathophysiology
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-80054776040&doi=10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0026464&partnerID=40&md5=7263fcad5997f1375a76e27fea96fee0
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026464
ISSN: 19326203
Cited by: 53
Original Language: English