Relationship between body mass index and percent body fat in Vietnamese: Implications for the diagnosis of obesity

Ho-Pham, LT; Lai, TQ; Nguyen, MTT; Nguyen, TV

Relationship between body mass index and percent body fat in Vietnamese: Implications for the diagnosis of obesity

Ho-Pham, LT Lai, TQ Nguyen, MTT Nguyen, TV

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: PLoS ONE, 2015, 10 (5)
Issue Date:: 2015-05-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ho-Pham, LT	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Lai, TQ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Nguyen, MTT	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Nguyen, TV https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3246-6281	en_US
dc.date.available	2015-04-13	en_US
dc.date.issued	2015-05-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	PLoS ONE, 2015, 10 (5)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/107360
dc.description.abstract	© 2015 Ho-Pham 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. Background The burden of obesity in Vietnam has not been well defined because there is a lack of reference data for percent body fat (PBF) in Asians. This study sought to define the relationship between PBF and body mass index (BMI) in the Vietnamese population. Methods The study was designed as a comparative cross-sectional investigation that involved 1217 individuals of Vietnamese background (862 women) aged 20 years and older (average age 7 yr) who were randomly selected from the general population in Ho Chi Minh City. Lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) were measured by DXA (Hologic QDR 4500). PBF was derived as FM over body weight. Results Based on BMI 30, the prevalence of obesity was 1.1% and 1.3% for men and women, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity combined (BMI 25) was ∼ 24% and ∼ 19% in men and women, respectively. Based on the quadratic relationship between BMI and PBF, the approximate PBF corresponding to the BMI threshold of 30 (obese) was 30.5 in men and 41 in women. Using the criteria of PBF >30 in men and PBF >40 in women, approximately 15% of men and women were considered obese. Conclusion These data suggest that body mass index underestimates the prevalence of obesity. We suggest that a PBF >30 in men or PBF >40 in women is used as criteria for the diagnosis of obesity in Vietnamese adults. Using these criteria, 15% of Vietnamese adults in Ho Chi Minh City was considered obese.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	PLoS ONE	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1371/journal.pone.0127198	en_US
dc.subject.classification	General Science & Technology	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adipose Tissue	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Obesity	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Body Mass Index	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adolescent	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adult	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Middle Aged	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Vietnam	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Female	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Male	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Young Adult	en_US
dc.title	Relationship between body mass index and percent body fat in Vietnamese: Implications for the diagnosis of obesity	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	5	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	10	en_US
utslib.for	111199 Nutrition and Dietetics not elsewhere classified	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Biomedical Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHT - Health Technologies
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	5	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	10	en_US

Abstract:

© 2015 Ho-Pham 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. Background The burden of obesity in Vietnam has not been well defined because there is a lack of reference data for percent body fat (PBF) in Asians. This study sought to define the relationship between PBF and body mass index (BMI) in the Vietnamese population. Methods The study was designed as a comparative cross-sectional investigation that involved 1217 individuals of Vietnamese background (862 women) aged 20 years and older (average age 7 yr) who were randomly selected from the general population in Ho Chi Minh City. Lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) were measured by DXA (Hologic QDR 4500). PBF was derived as FM over body weight. Results Based on BMI 30, the prevalence of obesity was 1.1% and 1.3% for men and women, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity combined (BMI 25) was ∼ 24% and ∼ 19% in men and women, respectively. Based on the quadratic relationship between BMI and PBF, the approximate PBF corresponding to the BMI threshold of 30 (obese) was 30.5 in men and 41 in women. Using the criteria of PBF >30 in men and PBF >40 in women, approximately 15% of men and women were considered obese. Conclusion These data suggest that body mass index underestimates the prevalence of obesity. We suggest that a PBF >30 in men or PBF >40 in women is used as criteria for the diagnosis of obesity in Vietnamese adults. Using these criteria, 15% of Vietnamese adults in Ho Chi Minh City was considered obese.

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