Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
  • Listen to CMAJ podcasts
Letters

Body weight classification

Simone Lemieux, Marie-Claude Paquette, Lyne Mongeau and ; For the members of the GTPPP (Québec Provincial Working Group on Weight Related Issues)
CMAJ May 10, 2005 172 (10) 1275; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1050061
Simone Lemieux
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Marie-Claude Paquette
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Lyne Mongeau
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
  • © 2005 CMA Media Inc. or its licensors

James Douketis notes that waist circumference cut-offs have been validated, citing an excellent paper by Janssen and collaborators.1 Those authors demonstrated that the use of waist circumference cut-off points helps to identify subjects at increased health risk within normal-weight, overweight and class I obese BMI categories, but their study was not a validation of waist cut-offs. Accordingly, they acknowledged that their results do not imply that the specific cut-off values of 102 cm for men and 88 cm for women are the ideal threshold values denoting increased risk.1 They also pointed out that the waist circumference values that best predict health risk within different BMI categories are still unknown.1

We acknowledge that more research is needed on waist circumference cut-offs and on other indicators to better assess the health risks of people in the overweight category, especially given that decreasing the BMI cut-off for this category (from 27 to 25 kg/m2) has resulted in increased heterogeneity in terms of health risk.2

In addition, we wish to stress our concern about reducing the lower limit for the normal weight category (from 20 to 18.5 kg/m2). In our current sociocultural context, where thinness is highly valued, such changes to BMI categories could intensify people's (notably women's) excessive concern about body weight,3which unfortunately may lead them to seek rapid weight loss and to use unhealthy and even dangerous weight loss methods.4The impact of these changes in BMI classification is not trivial and must be recognized. Reducing the lower BMI cut-off for normal weight (to 18.5 kg/m2) may lead to risks associated with delayed identification of eating disorders, but such a change can also prevent early recognition of disordered attitudes and behaviours concerning eating and physical activity, a situation that precedes the onset of eating disorders and affects more adult women than do eating disorders.5

Although Douketis is correct in stating that the guidelines are not designed for intervention purposes in individuals, the BMI remains well known to the public. BMI calculators can be found easily on the Internet and in magazines, and it is impossible to control how people will interpret their BMI in the absence of advice from a health care provider.

Finally, we agree that more discussion is needed concerning the guidelines. It is essential for health care providers to be better informed on how to interpret and use the new weight classification system.

References

  1. 1.↵
    Janssen I, Katzmarzyk PT, Ross R. Body mass index, waist circumference, and health risk: evidence in support of current National Institutes of Health guidelines. Arch Intern Med 2002;162:2074-9.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  2. 2.↵
    Lemieux S, Mongeau L, Paquette MC, Laberge S, Lachance B; for the members of the GTPPP (Quebec Provincial Working Group on Weight Related Issues). Health Canada's new guidelines for body weight classification in adults: challenges and concerns [editorial]. CMAJ 2004;171(11):1361-3.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  3. 3.↵
    Green KL, Cameron R, Polivy J, Cooper K, Liu L, Leiter L, et al. Weight dissatisfaction and weight loss attempts among Canadian adults. Canadian Heart Health Surveys Research Group. CMAJ 1997;157(Suppl 1):S17-25.
  4. 4.↵
    Berg FM. Health risks associated with weight loss and obesity treatment programs. J Soc Issues 1999;55:277-97.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  5. 5.↵
    Neumark-Sztainer D. The weight dilemma: a range of philosophical perspectives. Int J Obes 1999;23:S31-7.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 172 (10)
CMAJ
Vol. 172, Issue 10
10 May 2005
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Body weight classification
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Body weight classification
Simone Lemieux, Marie-Claude Paquette, Lyne Mongeau
CMAJ May 2005, 172 (10) 1275; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1050061

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Body weight classification
Simone Lemieux, Marie-Claude Paquette, Lyne Mongeau
CMAJ May 2005, 172 (10) 1275; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1050061
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
    • References
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Influence of obesity on the risk of developing colon cancer
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The 5 Ps need an update: toward a comprehensive sexual history
  • Don’t ignore perimenopause
  • Hospital-at-home programs in Canada: challenges and pitfalls
Show more Letters

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Topics
    • Obesity

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: [email protected]

CMA Civility, Accessibility, Privacy

 

Powered by HighWire