Body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio misclassification of overweight and obesity in Chinese military personnel

Abstract

Abstract Background The rising prevalence of obesity in military personnel has raised great concerns. Previous studies suggest that body mass index (BMI)- and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)-based obesity classifications in US military personnel and firefighters have high false negative and subsequently cause obesity misclassification. Objective To determine whether BMI and WHR could reflect the fat mass of Chinese military personnel. Methods Three hundred fifty-three male Chinese military personnel and 380 age-matched male adults were recruited. Obesity classification was defined by BMI, WHR, and body fat percentage (BFP). Results Chinese military personnel had extremely low obesity rate determined by either BFP (0.3%) or BMI (0.6%). By combining overweight and obese individuals, BMI- and WHR-determined prevalence of overweight/obesity was 22.4% and 17.0% compared to BFP-based standard (4.0%) (P < 0.05). In reference to BFP, BMI and WHR have high false-positive rate compared to the control group. Further analysis showed that Chinese military personnel consisted of high percentage of BFPlowBMIhigh and/or BFPlowWHRhigh subpopulations. Eighty-one percent of BMIhigh and 78.3% of WHRhigh of them were BFP low. Conclusions Chinese military personnel has extremely low obesity rate. BMI and WHR have high false-positive rates in reference to BFP, which cannot accurately reflect the mass of adipose tissue and leads to obesity misclassification.