Tougher obesity measure set for British Asian

Britain's health advisers have set a tougher obesity measure -- a lower BMI target -- for British Asians as they are more prone to certain diseases like diabetes.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance have set a lower body mass index (BMI) target for Asians in the country, bringing the UK in line with Indian and World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.
BMI is a way of seeing if a person's weight is appropriate for their height and is calculated by taking the weight (in kilogrammes) and dividing it by height (in metres) squared to give you a BMI score.

"These are helpful guidelines that bring home the importance of tailoring guidelines to individuals, for example, we know that some ethnic groups are susceptible to different health risks," said Dr Rachel Pryke of the Royal College of GPs.
Diabetes UK added that it was good to move away from a "one size fits all" approach to BMI.
Until now, experts have said all UK adults should aim for a BMI of no more than 25 to be healthy.

But NICE says that doesn't go far enough for certain ethnic groups and that Asian people should aim for a BMI lower than 23.

According to the new guidelines, a 5ft 11in (1.8m) Asian man should weigh below 75kg and an Asian woman who is 5ft 3in (1.6m) should weigh less than 59kg.
Excess body fat contributes to more than half of cases of Type-2 diabetes and a fifth of heart disease cases as well as certain types of cancer.
The number of people affected by these health conditions is far greater among black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups - despite rates of obesity among these groups being similar to the white population.