Proposed Turkish body mass index cut-off points compared with the World Health Organization and AsiaPacific indices

Abstract

It is important to determine specific Body Mass Index (BMI) cut-off points on country and sex bases since there are anthropometric differences. Therefore, a study was proposed to find out specific body mass index [BMI-TR (kg/m2)] cut-off points for Turkish young adults. BMI-TR was compared with the classifications of the World Health Organization’s Index (BMI-WHO) and Asia-Pacific Index (BMI-AP). In this research a study enclosing the weight and height measurements of 196 cases (97 Male, 99 Female, age average 22.5 years) were examined. The recorded total data were calculated according to BMI-WHO and BMI-AP, subsequently the same data were computed according to Empirical Rule to find out the cut-off points of the BMI-TR and also specific BMI-TR cut-off points for males and females. The data were compared for both BMI-WHO and BMI-AP categorizations and showed inconsistent results. Therefore, BMI-TR was calculated and classified according to sex. In this study, Turkish specific BMI results for BMI-TR Males and BMI-TR Females revealed that the percentage of females showing normal BMI was higher (78.8%), than males (70.1%), and being underweight (14.4 % for males, 10.1 % for females) was more serious than being obese (5.2% for males, 4.0 % for females) in the “young adult” age group. BMI calculations should include age groups, sex and adjustment of height decrease for elderly on country basis.