一直以來,醫學界都呼籲我們要控制體重。本港依從世衛的亞洲人標準,「體重指數」以18.5至22.9定義為適中,23至24.9為超重,25或以上為肥胖。可是,原來內地及台灣另有標準,且較本港「寬鬆」,兩地「適中」的上限不是22.9,而是23.9;至於超重及肥胖的BMI數值也較香港高。
再以身高1.6米的女士及1.77米的男士為例子,參考內地及台灣定義的「適中」BMI上限,二人的適中體重上限則分別由59千克(約130磅)及72千克(約159磅),提升至61千克(約135磅)及75千克(約165磅),「放寬」約5磅。
香港肥胖醫學會會長周振中指出,以「體重指數」衡量體重是否適中雖然相對簡便,也較容易記憶,然而也有其缺陷,就是不能反映體內的脂肪成分及分佈。他解釋,就算BMI合乎標準,但難保體內脂肪比率高或集中,常見問題是集中於腹部,即「大肚腩」中央肥胖,這也不叫健康。所以要衡量體重及體型是否適中,BMI之外,也要注意腰圍。
周振中稱,以亞洲人的情况而言,適中的腰圍男士為90厘米(約35.5吋)或以下,女士為80厘米(約31.5吋)或以下。
肥少少 死得慢
想延年益壽,可能需要胖一點!據台灣最新的研究指出,成人「體重指數」(簡稱BMI)介乎24至25.9的人死亡風險最低,這與世界衛生組織(世衛)以至本港衛生署提出的適中BMI——即18.5至22.9有一段頗大的距離。
如何理解上述兩組「體重指數」呢?姑且用以下例子說明。
「適中者」要增10公斤
體重指數的計算法為﹕體重(千克)除以身高(米)的平方。以身高1.6米(約5呎3吋)的女士及1.77米(約5呎10吋)的男士為例,依據衛生署提出介乎18.5至22.9的適中BMI計算(以下數字「四捨五入」)﹕
女士體重應維持在47至59千克(約104至130磅)之間
男士體重應維持在58至72千克(約128至159磅)之間
若採用台灣研究結論所提及的最低死亡風險BMI即24至25.9,上述男女應「增肥」至以下水平﹕
女士﹕61至66千克(約135至146磅)
男士﹕75至81千克(約165至179磅)
換言之,她或他要增加多達約10公斤!
身兼內分泌及糖尿科專科醫生的香港肥胖醫學會會長周振中指出,這份上周於《加拿大醫學會期刊》(Canadian Medical Association Journal)發布的台灣研究,涉及人數頗多,超過5.8萬名男士及6.5萬名女士,並有規模地追蹤超過10年,研究人員據此才得出無論男女,BMI介乎24至25.9的死亡風險最低的結論;至於BMI低於18.5又或在35或以上的人(即過瘦及過胖的人),死亡風險最高。
「若只講死亡風險的話,似乎『胖一點』較好。」周振中稱,相似的發現也見於今年二月《新英格蘭醫學期刊》(New England Journal of Medicine)一篇以亞洲人為對象的研究上。當中指出,BMI介乎22.6至27.5的東亞人(包括中台星日韓五地的人),死亡風險最低。
值得留意的是,此研究不止看死亡一項因素,它更仔細分析不同的BMI與死於癌症、心血管疾病(包括冠心病及中風)和其他疾病的關係,發現這些疾病的死亡風險,也是以BMI介乎22.6至27.5的人最低;此外,BMI介乎20.1至22.5的人死於心血管疾病的風險同樣低。
不代表可放肆地吃
周振中稱,這些研究不是叫人「可以放肆地吃」而不用理會體重,而是表示BMI就算在25左右甚至27,未必如現在般定義為超重以至肥胖(現行定義見附表),也未必需要「積極進取地」以藥物甚至手術治療;可是,如果同時患有糖尿病、高血壓及高血脂等問題,則另作別論。但他提醒,如果BMI已在27左右,無論如何「不要讓自己繼續胖下去」,因為BMI愈高,患上心血管疾病及癌症等死亡風險始終愈高。
Original Article
Body mass index and all-cause mortality in a large Chinese cohort
Wen-Yuan Lin, Shin-Li Tsai, Jeanine B. Albu, Cheng-Chieh Lin, Tsai-Chung Li, F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, Pei-Kun Sung and Kuo-Chin Huang
From the Department of Family Medicine (W.-Y.Lin, C.-C. Lin), China Medical University Hospital, Taichung,Taiwan; the School of Medicine (W.-Y. Lin, C.-C. Lin), the Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science (W.-Y. Lin,Huang) and the Graduate Institute of Biostatistics (Li), China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; the Department of Family Medicine (Tsai, Huang), National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; the Institute of Health Care Administration (C.-C. Lin, Li), College of Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan; the MJ Health Screening Center (Sung), Taipei, Taiwan; and the New York Obesity Research Center (Albu, Pi-Sunyer), St.Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University, New York, NY
Dr. Kuo-Chin Huang, E-mail bretthuang@ntu.edu.tw
Background: Obesity is known to be associated with an in creased risk of death, but current definitions of obesity are based on data from white populations. We examined the association between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of death in a large population of adult Chinese people.
Methods: We examined the association between body mass index (BMI) and all-cause mortality prospectively among 58 738 men and 65 718 women aged 20 years and older enrolled in 1998–1999 from four national health screening centres in Taiwan. We used Cox proportional hazards regression analyses to estimate the relative risks of all-cause mortality for different BMI categories during a maximum follow-up of 10 years.
Results: A total of 3947 participants died during the follow-up period. The lowest risk of death was observed among men and women who had a BMI of 24.0–25.9 (mean 24.9). After adjustment for age, smoking status, alcohol intake, betel-nut chewing, level of physical activity, income level and education level, we observed a U-shaped association between BMI and all-cause mortality. Similar U-shaped associations were observed when we analyzed data by age (20–64 or = 65 years), smoking (never, 10 pack-years or = 10 pack-years) and presence of a pre-existing chronic disease, and after we excluded deaths that occurred in the first three years of follow-up.
Interpretation: BMI and all-cause mortality had a U-shaped association among adult Chinese people in our study. The lowest risk of death was among adults who had a BMI of 24.0–25.9 (mean 24.9). Our findings do not support the use of a lower cutoff value for overweight and obesity in the adult Chinese population.
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