According to ADA guidelines, which race/ethnicity demographic has lower BMI cutoffs?

According to ADA guidelines, which race/ethnicity demographic has lower BMI cutoffs?

• A. African American/Black
• B. White
• C. Asian
• D. Latino/a

Answer: (C)

Ethnicity can change how BMI relates to health risk. Asian individuals have higher metabolic risk at a lower body mass, so guidelines use lower BMI thresholds to flag overweight and obesity. Specifically, for Asians, overweight is defined at a BMI of 23 or higher and obesity at 25 or higher, whereas most other groups use 25 for overweight and 30 for obesity. This is why the demographic with the lower cutoffs is Asian. The other groups generally follow the standard thresholds, so they don’t have these reduced cutoffs in ADA guidance.

Ethnicity can change how BMI relates to health risk. Asian individuals have higher metabolic risk at a lower body mass, so guidelines use lower BMI thresholds to flag overweight and obesity. Specifically, for Asians, overweight is defined at a BMI of 23 or higher and obesity at 25 or higher, whereas most other groups use 25 for overweight and 30 for obesity. This is why the demographic with the lower cutoffs is Asian. The other groups generally follow the standard thresholds, so they don’t have these reduced cutoffs in ADA guidance.