Asian Scientist (Oct. 14, 2013) – An international team of researchers has found an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in East Asian individuals with body mass indices (BMI) that are higher or lower than the optimal value.
CVD is the leading cause of death globally and is predicted to steadily increase over the next few decades. Many Asian populations that used to be physically active with a low BMI now have some of the world’s highest rates of obesity.
Studies of BMI and CVD risk have generally been conducted in Europe and North America and no data is available to compare East Asians (China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and Korea) and South Asians (India and Bangladesh) for any potential differences in the associations of BMI with CVD risk.
In this study, the researchers evaluated the association between BMI and risk of death from overall cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and stroke in East and South Asians.
Generally, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 may indicate optimal weight. A BMI lower than 18.5 suggests the person is underweight while a number above 25 may indicate the person is overweight. Having a BMI above 30 suggests that the person is obese.
The research team used data on over 1.1 million men and women from the Asia Cohort Consortium (ACC), an international collaboration committed to the study of environmental exposures and genetics in the causes of disease.
Over a follow-up period of almost 10 years, the researchers identified 49,184 cardiovascular deaths (40,791 in East Asians and 8,393 in South Asians).
An increased risk of death was observed in all individuals with BMI values greater than 24.9 for overall cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke, compared with the reference BMI range (22.5-24.9), particularly in middle age.
However, people with low BMI may also be at risk: an elevated risk of death from cardiovascular disease was also observed at very low BMI ranges (less than 15 and 15-17.4).
In South Asians, the association was much less pronounced, with an increased risk of death from coronary heart disease observed only in individuals with a BMI greater than 35. The data also suggest no association between BMI and risk of death from stroke in South Asians.
According to the researchers, the increasing rates of death from CVD in Asia that are attributed to higher BMI can be managed by policy and prevention strategies.
The article can be found at: Chen et al. (2013) Association Between Body Mass Index And Cardiovascular Disease Mortality In East Asians And South Asians: Pooled Analysis Of Prospective Data From The Asia Cohort Consortium.
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Source: BMA; Photo: puuikibeach/Flickr/CC.
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