Assessment of a proposed BMI formula in predicting body fat percentage among Filipino young adults

This study assessed the performance of a modified BMI formula proposed by Trefethen against the traditional BMI formula in predicting body fat percentage and diagnosing overweight/obesity among Filipino young adults (n=190). Using robust polynomial regression, quadratic BMI models showed better predictive ability for both sexes. While the traditional BMI had slightly higher, but non-significant, area under the ROC curve (AUROC) values, both formulas significantly predicted body fat percentage and adequately discriminated between normal and overweight/obese states using optimal BMI cutoff values.

Michael Van Haute, Emer Rondilla, Jasmine Lorraine Vitug, Kristelle Diane Batin, Romaia Elaiza Abrugar, Francis Quitoriano, Kryzia Dela Merced, Trizha Maaño, Jojomaku Higa, Jianna Gayle Almoro, Darlene Ternida, J. T. Cabrera