Western diseases such as
stroke and heart disease are a major problem in Asia
September 13, 2004
Diseases such as stroke and heart disease, which have traditionally been
associated with Western diets and lifestyles, are also a major problem in
Asia according to researchers at The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Dr Anthony Rodgers, Director of the Clinical Trials Research Unit in the
School of Population Health, was a researcher in the Asia Pacific Cohort
Studies Collaboration, which assessed the impact of obesity on
cardiovascular disease in Asia Pacific.
The study, which has been published in the latest issue of the academic
journal International Journal of Epidemiology, found that body mass index
(BMI) levels, a measure of body weight, have a strong relationship with
cardiovascular disease amongst Asians.
“Our findings indicate that there is an urgent need for effective strategies
to prevent further increases in population weight in Asia,” Dr Rodgers says.
The study included data from Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Japan, Australia and New Zealand and involved 310,283 participants including
3332 people who had suffered a stroke and 2073 with heart disease.
“Previously there was a lack of data from Asia about BMI and the impact that
it has on cardiovascular disease rates amongst Asian people. Although we
already knew that there was a strong association between these in Western
populations.
“This study is the first to show that excess body weight is just as much a
risk to Asian people as it is to Europeans. The difference is that Asian
people generally tend to have lower average body weights, but the study
showed that there is still an excess risk at these lower BMI levels,” he
says.
Dr Rodgers says that the lower someone’s weight, the lower their risk of
cardiovascular disease. Usually someone with a BMI over 25 is considered
overweight and over 30 is obese, but the risk of cardiovascular disease
begins well below these traditional cut-off points.
“We found that people in the Asia Pacific region are at risk of stroke and
heart disease at levels well below the cut-off that is currently defined as
overweight. So we’d recommend that everyone should strive to maintain his or
her BMI well below this point,” he says.
Weight gain is considered to be on the increase in Asia because of the
increased availability of processed food and reduced physical activity as
motorisation takes a further hold.
“We can all learn a lesson from this that there is a strong relationship
between weight gain and cardiovascular disease in all ethnicities. It is in
everybody’s interest to monitor and retain the correct weight.
“Weight gain is dangerous for everyone, even if they don’t fit the current
criteria for what is considered overweight,” he says.