Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Massey University, PO Box 756, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Jul 11;20(1):1092. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09217-z.
Obesity is a public health problem in Micronesia. The objective of the study was to assess obesity, the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BF%) among adults, and determine the appropriate BMI cut-points in Kiribati.
A cross-sectional study was undertaken among 483 adults randomly selected from South Tarawa (ST) and Butaritari (BT). Weight, height, BF% and physical activity level (PAL) was measured using standard methods. Linear and quadratic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between BF% and BMI whilst controlling for age and gender. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analyses were used to assess whether for the Kiribati population alternative BMI cut-off points for obesity are needed.
Approximately 75% of participants were obese using standard BMI and BF% cut-offs, with the highest prevalence observed in South Tarawa. BF% was significantly (p < 0.001) and positively associated with age (males, r = 0.78; females, r = 0.67; p < 0.001) and BMI. Based on ROC-curve analyses the BMI cut-offs for predicting high BF% among I-Kiribati people were 24.5 kg/m for males and 32.9 kg/m for females.
In conclusion, the majority of adults in Kiribati were either obese or overweight and had high BF%. We suggest that ethnic-specific BMI cut-points to define obesity for the population of Kiribati may be more appropriate than the currently used international cut-points.
肥胖是密克罗尼西亚的一个公共卫生问题。本研究旨在评估基里巴斯成年人的肥胖状况、体重指数（BMI）与体脂百分比（BF%）之间的关系，并确定适用于基里巴斯的 BMI 切点。
在南塔拉瓦（ST）和比托里泰（BT）随机抽取 483 名成年人进行横断面研究。使用标准方法测量体重、身高、BF%和身体活动水平（PAL）。进行线性和二次回归分析，以评估 BF%与 BMI 之间的关系，同时控制年龄和性别。采用受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线分析评估基里巴斯人群是否需要替代 BMI 切点来诊断肥胖。
约 75%的参与者根据标准 BMI 和 BF%切点被诊断为肥胖，其中南塔拉瓦的肥胖患病率最高。BF%与年龄呈显著正相关（p<0.001），男性 r=0.78，女性 r=0.67，p<0.001。基于 ROC 曲线分析，预测 I-基里巴斯人群高 BF%的 BMI 切点为男性 24.5 kg/m2和女性 32.9 kg/m2。
总之，基里巴斯的大多数成年人肥胖或超重，体脂率较高。我们建议，为基里巴斯人群定义肥胖的 BMI 切点可能需要采用特定种族的切点，而不是目前使用的国际切点。
