Proposing New-Specific BMI Cutoff Points for Diagnosing Obesity in Older Hispanic Adults: Insights from a National Representative Sample

Abstract

Abstract Background: Current body mass index (BMI) cutoff points (≥30 kg/m2) underestimate obesity prevalence in older adults. Objective: To propose new BMI cutoff points for identifying obesity in older Hispanic adults. Subjects/Methods: In this study, new internally derived (ID) BMI cutoff points for obesity in older Hispanic adults were developed by analyzing data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey of 2018-19 from Mexico. To evaluate the performance/validation of these newly proposed cutoff points, data from the "Study of the 1,000," conducted in Northern Mexico, were utilized. Sensitivity, and negative predictive value (NPV) were assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis, with obesity defined by fat mass index (FMI; >9.0 kg/m2 for men and >13.0 kg/m2 for women) as the reference method. Results: The newly proposed ID BMI cutoff points were ≥27.2 kg/m2 for men and 28.8 kg/m2 for women and demonstrated high sensitivity (≥98.0%) and NPV (≥99.0%) in both sexes. Furthermore, the prevalence of obesity estimated by the new BMI cutoff points was comparable to that estimated by the FMI. Conclusion: The newly proposed BMI cutoff points provide a more accurate identification of obesity in older Hispanic adults. These findings have implications for improving obesity diagnosis and management in this population.