Commentary: Optimal body mass index cut points

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Abstract
A standard body mass index (BMI)-based definition of overweight and obesity is essential to the monitoring and comparing obesity trends, yet the choice of BMI thresholds continues to excite considerable debate.1–3 Since the early 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended using BMI cut points of 25 and 30 kg/m2, respectively. However, these recommendations were challenged by later studies including those in Western3,4 and Asian populations.1,2,5–7 Some Asian populations have higher amounts of body fat for a given BMI and have health risks at lower BMI than Western populations;8,9 thus lower BMI cut points of 23 and 25 are recommended to define overweight and obesity. This is endorsed by the WHO for public health purposes,10,11 although researchers from countries in the region have also suggested using other BMI cut points.5,6 Overall, previous studies have been inconsistent regarding the need for lower BMI cut points in Asian populations.

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