Ethnic and sex differences in the distributions of body mass index and waist circumference among adults: a binationally representative study in South Korea and the United States

S. Eum, J.W. Son, C. Min, W. Cho, S. Kim, H.G. Woo, R. Kwon, K.N. Lee, K.-D. Han, D.K. Yon, S.Y. Rhee

Department of Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. yonkkang@gmail.com

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• Endocrinology

OBJECTIVE: The ethnic and sex differences in the distributions of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) among adults are largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the percentiles of BMI and WC in groups divided according to age, sex, and ethnicity.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a population-based binational study of adults aged ≥20 years based on data from two sources: US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015 to 2020) and Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016 to 2019).

RESULTS: Weight, height, and WC were measured in 13,144 American adults and 30,191 Korean adults. Overall, BMI increased at younger ages and decreased at older ages, which indicates a reversed U-shaped relationship, and differed in terms of age, sex, and ethnicity. Women in the other Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and “other ethnic groups” showed a common BMI peak at ages 50-54 years. The patterns of WC distribution were similar to those of BMI distribution.

CONCLUSIONS: In this binational representative study, we found varied distributions of ethnic and sex differences in BMI and WC. Considering the differences in these distributions may help improve individual and personalized treatment strategies.

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