title: Lower BMI cutoffs to define overweight and obesity in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate ethnic difference in the associations of BMI with comorbidity, mortality, and body composition between mainland Chinese and U.S. whites.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ethnic-comparison study using data from China Health and Nutrition Survey, U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and data from Zhejiang University (China) and Columbia University (U.S.).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chinese people experienced greater odds of comorbidities than whites for a given BMI after standardizing for age and sex: 43% for diabetes, 30% for dyslipidemia, 28% for hypertension, 38% for metabolic syndrome, and 48% for hyperuricemia. Comparisons of BMI-mortality associations found that the U-shaped BMI-mortality curve shifted 1-2 kg m(-2) to the left in Chinese compared to whites. Compared to whites at BMIs of 25 and 30 kg m(-2), corresponding cutoffs in Chinese were 22.5 and 25.9 kg m(-2) in men, and 22.8 and 26.6 kg m(-2) in women after both fat and fat distribution were taken into account.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Comorbidity, mortality, and body composition data consistently support the use of lower BMI cutoffs in Chinese than those in whites.
authors: Obesity and Body Composition Research Center, Chronic Disease Research Institute, Zhejiang University School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: He
authors: Qingqing
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: Min
authors: M
authors: Yang
authors: Jingjing
authors: J
authors: Jiao
authors: Xiaoguang
authors: X
authors: Ma
authors: Yunjie
authors: Y
authors: Zhou
authors: Aihua
authors: A
authors: Song
authors: Steven B
authors: SB
authors: Heymsfield
authors: Shanchun
authors: S
authors: Zhang
authors: Shankuan
authors: S
authors: Zhu
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001837:Body Weights and Measures / Q000592:standards*; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D012016:Reference Values; D044465:White People