Health Ministry comes up with obesity guidelines for India
November 27th, 2008
The BMI—considered the individual’s fitness and obesity indicator—is the ratio of the body weight in kg versus height in m^2.
Key Points in the new guidelines :
- A person with a body mass index of 23 kg/m2 will now be considered overweight and below that as one with normal BMI—unlike the cut-off limit of 25 kg/m2 earlier.
- Those with BMI of 25 kg/m2 will be clinically termed obese (as opposed to 30 kg/m2 at the international level) and those with BMI of 32.5 kg/m2 will require bariatric surgery to eliminate excess flab.
- According to guidelines, cut-offs for waist circumstances will now be 90 cm for Indian men (as opposed to 102 cm globally) and 80 cm for Indian women (as opposed to 88 cm at the international level).
The guidelines were released jointly by the Health Ministry, the Diabetes Foundation of India, the All-India Institute of Medical Science (Aiims), Indian Council of Medical Research, the National Institute of Nutrition and 20 other health organisations.
