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India reworks obesity guidelines, BMI lowered.

The Health Ministry has reduced the diagnostic cut-offs for body mass index (BMI) to 23 kg/m2 and the standard waist circumference to deal obesity.

As per studies, the absolute mortality due to chronic heart diseases in India is increasing. One in every three Indians has high blood pressure, which is expected to shoot by 60% in the next 20 years.

Health Ministry has reduced the diagnostic cut-offs for BMI to 23 kg/m2 and the standard waist circumference to fight the battle against obesity. The standards have been set for the first time in the Ministry's consensus guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome for the country as released on October 2008. The guidelines were released jointly by the Health Ministry, the Diabetes Foundation of India (DFI), the All-India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and 20 other health organizations.

India's new diagnostic cut-off for the body mass index is 23 kg/m2 as opposed to 25 kg/m2 globally. A person with a body mass index of 23 kg/m2 will now be considered overweight and below 23 kg/m2 as one with normal BMI, unlike the cut-off limit of 25 kg/m2 earlier. Now, those with BMI of 25 kg/m2 will be clinically termed obese (as opposed to 30 kg/m2 at the international level).

Now, the BMI limit for Indians is:

• Less than 18.4 - Underweight
• 18.5 - 22.9 - Normal
• 23 - 24.9 - Overweight
• More than 25 - Obese

Also, according to the guidelines, the cut-offs for waist circumstances will now be 90 cm for Indian men (as opposed to 102 cm globally) and 80 cm for Indian women (as opposed to 88 cm at the international level).

Researches over the last several years have shown that Indian bodies and genetics are different as Indians suffer with abdominal obesity. This body composition puts Indian in the high risk zone for diabetes and hypertension.