SEOUL, NOV 22 – In South Korea, a body mass index (BMI) above 25 is considered obese, but a recent study shows the healthiest range may actually be higher than that. However, health experts are now calling for the reading to be increased to 27.
Oh Sang-woo, a professor of family medicine at Dongguk University’s Ilsan Hospital, recommended raising Korea’s obesity reading to a BMI of 27, noting that the current classification (25) may not be appropriate at this time.
“Research conducted 20 years ago found that the lowest risk of death was associated with a BMI of 23. But due to changes in human body type, lifestyle habits and health patterns that became more similar to those in Western countries, the optimal BMI for the lowest risk of death has shifted to 25,” explained Oh.
According to current standards, a man who is 173 centimeters tall and weighs 75 kilograms is considered obese, with a BMI just above 25. However, under the proposed changes, the same man will no longer be considered as such, and will still be classified as being in the healthy weight range even if weighing up to 80 kg, according to the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).
Oh refers to a study by the NHIS that found that BMI 25 has the lowest mortality rate in a U-shaped pattern, where the risk of death and health is highest at both the low and high reading ends of the BMI scale.
BMI is a measure of a person’s height to weight ratio to estimate the amount of body fat, expressed in kilograms of weight per square meter of height. Currently, Korea follows the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region BMI standard which labels a BMI of 18.5-22.9 as ‘normal’, 23-24.9 as ‘pre-obesity’ or ‘overweight’, and 25 or higher as ‘obese’.
However, the risk of death for those with a BMI below 18.5 and above 35 is 1.72 times and 1.64 times higher, respectively, compared to individuals with a BMI of 25, according to the research.
Lee Sun-mi, director of the Health Management Research Center at the NHIS research institute, agreed with the need to increase Korea’s obesity reading from 25 to 27, noting that China defines a BMI of 28 as a reading for obesity.
“NHIS will continue to actively promote health care projects that focus on the country’s obese population, who are at higher risk of developing chronic disease and death,” Lee said in a press release.
The study tracked the risk of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease for about 8.47 million adults who underwent health checkups from 2002 and 2003 to 2023. – ANN/The Korea Herald
