Mixed
In East Asians, a body mass index (BMI) of 25.0 or higher is associated with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality, with the lowest risk observed in the BMI range of 20.0-22.4.
If you are East Asian, maintaining a BMI between 20.0 and 22.4 is associated with the lowest risk of cardiovascular death. A BMI of 25 or higher is linked to increased risk, suggesting that standard Western 'overweight' thresholds may be too high for this demographic. Focus on maintaining a healthy weight through balanced nutrition and physical activity, rather than aiming for the lowest possible BMI, as very low BMI (<17.5) is also associated with higher CVD risk.
East Asians with a body mass index of 25 or above had a raised risk of death from overall cardiovascular disease, compared with the reference range of body mass index (values 22.5-24.9; hazard ratio 1.09 (95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.15)...)
Why this rating
Large-scale pooled analysis of 20 prospective cohorts with over 1.1 million participants provides high statistical power and robust hazard ratios.
Source
Association between body mass index and cardiovascular disease mortality in east Asians and south Asians: pooled analysis of prospective data from the Asia Cohort Consortium
Yu Chen et al. · BMJ · 2013
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