Atherogenic lipid risk factors in men classified as overweight and obese according to the preliminary WHO guidelines for Asians.

The prevalence of obesi ty is increasing in bo th the deve loped and deve lop ing count r ies , wi th 10–50% of the Ind ian population are being reported as obese (1). Obes i ty i s an impor tan t r i sk fac tor fo r coronary hear t d i sease and i t has been repor ted tha t overweigh t and obes i ty increase the r i sk fo r hosp i ta l i za t ion and death f rom cardiovascular d isease (2) . The increased card iovascular r i sk in obes i ty i s at least partly mediated through atherogenic dys l ip idemia charac te r ized by an increase in p lasma t r ig lycer ides , low dens i ty lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol as well as low concent ra t ions o f h igh dens i ty (HDL) cholesterol. Defining BMI (body mass index) cu t – off l eve l s a t which adverse cardiovascular outcomes are more l ikely to occur are relevant to patient care. The BMI cut – off levels for Asians d i ffer f rom that of Europeans. There is increasing evidence of a h igh preva lence of type 2 d iabe tes mellitus and cardiovascular disease in Asian countr ies despi te an average BMI < 25 kg/ m in these countries (3). The WHO (World Heal th Oganiza t ion) had pu t fo rward new BMI criteria for Asians based on the report by reg ional off ice for the Western Pac i f ic region of WHO (4). The present study was an attempt to assess the suitability of these new guidel ines for c lassifying Indians into overweigh t and obese based on the i r atherogenic indices of l ipid metabol ism.