Exploring Productivity as a Health Indicator of BMI

―Relationship Composition of BMI to Body Fat Percentage by Height Type―

Abstract

　It has previously been pointed out that body mass index (BMI) may have a problem in overestimating obesity in people with taller heights and underestimating it in people with shorter heights. However, there are almost no reports in which BMI is actually calculated for tall and short heights and its relationship with body fat, the parameter most related to the definition of obesity, is examined. In this study, to confirm whether height differences affect determinations of physique from BMI, we constructed a linear regression equation of body fat percentage versus BMI in people with tall height (≥180 cm; 1,812 people), medium height (171 ± 1 cm; 4,204 people), and short height (≤161 cm; 1,106 people), respectively. We then performed covariance analysis on the regression equation for each of the constructed height groups, and by examining the differences in slope investigated whether differences exist in the relative composition of body fat percentage to BMI, depending of differences in height.