A recent large-scale transnational study has found a link between abnormally high or low Body Mass Index and higher mortality rates, Taipei-based Academia Sinica said March 22.
“We discovered a U-shaped correlation among East Asians between greater risk of death and BMI readings of above 35.0 or below 15.0,” said Shen Chen-yang, principal investigator at Academia Sinica, who was among the 44 researchers contributing to the study.
In light of the findings, Shen suggested that Taiwan’s Department of Health adjust its definition of normal BMI range slightly upward to 22.6 to 27.5 from the current 18.5 to 24.
According to the study, a person of East Asian descent—including Chinese, Japanese and Korean—who has a BMI reading above 35.0 faces a risk of death 1.5 times higher than an individual with a BMI in the 22.6 to 27.5 range. The risk of death rises 2.8-fold for East Asians with a BMI below 15.0.
The U-shaped correlation for East Asians remains the same for cancer and cardiovascular disease, the study found.
More than 1 million people in Bangladesh, mainland China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan took part in the study.
Three researchers from Taiwan Biobank, a large population-based database program managed by Academia Sinica, joined this international effort, the research institute said.
The results were published in the Feb. 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. (SB)