I'm gobsmacked! Something has surely changed.
The race-based adjustments lower the Body Mass Index (BMI) for children of African descent, making them seem thinner, while raising the BMI of children of South Asian descent. Scientists studied children of various ethnic groups between the ages of 4 and 12, and developed a race-based technique to "adjust" BMI definitions to ethnicity.
The new adjustments mean black children are less likely to be classified as overweight or obese than a white or Asian child with the same BMI. The researchers urge the adoption of these new altered standards for the entire U.K, as they "reflect body fat more accurately."
"Childhood obesity is a major public health challenge in the UK, and this research will give healthcare professionals extra help in making accurate judgements when deciding whether children, particularly of South Asian or Black African origin, are underweight, normal, overweight or very overweight (obese)," Mohammed Hudda, a researcher at University of London, said in a press statement.