The headline above is directly quoted from an article at foodarazzi.com. Various organizations have used Body Mass Index (BMI) to draw the lines between categories such as Obese, Overweight, Normal, and Underweight. The World Health Organization defines Normal as 18.5 to 25.
Turns out that Asian Americans should aim for a BMI of 23, not 25. The explanation? Asian Americans are “fatter” at a lower BMI than Caucasian Americans. This translates to an increased risk of diabetes and other health problems at lower weights.
So what does this really mean?
Here are my follow up IMs with Ernie:
joz: omg @ your tweet about that thing about asian am bmi
Ernie: i know.
Ernie: it was like being kicked in my very large belly.
God, I love Ernie.
About jozjozjoz
jozjozjoz is a taiwanese-american gal who lives and blogs underneath the hollywood sign and who doesn’t clean her fishtank unless the fish starts to do the backstroke. she is also able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but cannot stop from bumping into door handles, cabinet doors, and anything else that protrudes or has a sharp edge. she does not run with scissors for this same reason. she can pet the fur off a dog but don’t ask her to go anywhere near a horse. or a moth. or a roach. her dealings with L.A.’s finest (aka the parking violations department) are legend, as are her giant sneezes.
Other than the two too many joz’s, jozjozjoz is a perfectly normal, relatively sane individual who defies the odds, reaches for the stars, and carries moonbeams home in a jar. She’d rather be a fish… but not in her own dirty fishtank.
http://www.jozjozjoz.com
