Koreans Do Not Have Higher Percent Body Fat than Australians: Implication for the Diagnosis of Obesity in Asians

Objective It has been assumed that, for a given BMI, Asians have higher percent body fat (PBF) than Caucasians. As a result, it has been suggested that the BMI threshold for diagnosing obesity in Asians be lowered to less than 30 kg/m 2 . This study sought to compare PBF between Koreans and Australians. Methods Whole‐body fat mass and PBF were measured in 1,211 Koreans and 1,006 Australians using dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry (Lunar Prodigy;...