Determination of new anthropometric cut-off values for obesity screening in Indonesian adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-stature ratio (WSR) have increasingly been used as screening tools for obesity. However, optimal cut-off values may be different between populations. The current study determined the optimum cut-off values for BMI, WC, WHR, and WSR for obesity screening in Indonesian adults using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN Stature, body weight, waist and hip circumferences were measured on 600 Indonesians aged 18-65 years (males, n=292; females, n=308) and BMI, WHR, and WSR calculated. Percentage of body fat (%BF) was determined using the deuterium isotope (D2O) dilution technique. Some existing cut-off points for obesity determination were evaluated for sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS The existing cutoff values showed low sensitivity in our sample (between 18.4 and 71.1%) and new proposed cut-offs increased the sensitivity to reach 66.7 to 88.5%. The new cut-offs for BMI, WC, WHR, and WSR for determination of obesity were 21.9 (kg/m2), 76.8 (cm), 0.86, and 0.48, respectively, for males and 23.6 (kg/m2), 71.7 (cm), 0.77, and 0.47, respectively, for females. CONCLUSIONS WC and WSR are the most predictive both for males and females, and therefore are considered as better screening tools for obesity in this population.