Asian BMI Calculator
One BMI value. Two answers. Asian cut-off points sit lower than the WHO international scale — but they are not all the same number either.
Asian populations share an overweight threshold of BMI 23.0, but the obesity threshold differs by country: 25.0 in Hong Kong, South Korea and India; 27.5 in Singapore and in the ADA 2026 standard for Asian populations; 28.0 in mainland China; and 25.0 in Japan, which has no separate overweight band at all. Any page that gives you a single "Asian BMI chart" is flattening six different national standards into one.
Asian BMI Calculator
Measure at the midpoint between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, on a normal breath out. Needed to assess central obesity and waist-to-height ratio.
Comparison baseline: WHO international (global)
This calculator covers 11 published standards: WHO international, the WHO 2004 Asian action points, WHO Asia-Pacific, China's WS/T 428, Hong Kong Department of Health, Singapore HPB, Japan JASSO, Korea KSSO, the Misra Indian consensus and ADA 2026. BMI is a screening tool, not a diagnosis.
The full cut-point table, with sources
Every figure below was read from the issuing authority's own document, not from a secondary summary. The last column links to it. Where a standard publishes waist criteria, those are shown too — because for Asian populations, waist often carries more information than BMI.
| Standard | Normal range | Overweight from | Obesity from | Waist / central obesity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHO international (global)World Health Organization | 18.5 – 24.9 | 25.0 | 30.0 | — | Primary source |
| WHO Expert Consultation 2004 (Asian populations)World Health Organization expert consultation, published in The Lancet | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 27.5 | — | Primary source |
| WHO Asia-Pacific (WPRO / IASO / IOTF)WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, International Association for the Study of Obesity, International Obesity Task Force | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 25.0 | — | Primary source |
| ChinaNational Health Commission of the PRC — health industry standard WS/T 428 | 18.5 – 23.9 | 24.0 | 28.0 | M ≥90cm / W ≥85cm | Primary source |
| Hong Kong, ChinaDepartment of Health, Centre for Health Protection — adopting the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office classification for Asian adults | 18.5 – < 23.0 | 23.0 | 25.0 | WHtR < 0.5 | Primary source |
| SingaporeHealth Promotion Board (HPB), Ministry of Health | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 27.5 | M ≥90cm / W ≥80cm | Primary source |
| JapanJapan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO) | 18.5 – 24.9 | — | 25.0 | M ≥85cm / W ≥90cm | Primary source |
| South KoreaKorean Society for the Study of Obesity (KSSO) | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 25.0 | M ≥90cm / W ≥85cm | Primary source |
| India and South AsiaConsensus statement for Asian Indians (Misra et al., JAPI 2009); Indian Council of Medical Research | 18.0 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 25.0 | M ≥90cm / W ≥80cm | Primary source |
| UK NICE guidance — Asian, Chinese, Middle Eastern and Black African/Caribbean adultsNational Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK), guideline NG246 | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 27.5 | WHtR < 0.5 | Primary source |
| ADA 2026 standard for Asian populationsAmerican Diabetes Association — Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026, adult overweight and obesity | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 27.5 | M ≥90cm / W ≥80cm | Primary source |
All 11 standards shown, each read from the issuing authority's own document (linked per row). The WHO 2004 figures of 23.0 / 27.5 are public-health action points, not a redefinition of the international categories.
Why the same BMI produces three different answers
BMI itself is not in dispute. Every standard on this page uses the same formula: weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. There is nothing to recalculate and nothing to get wrong in the arithmetic.
What differs is where the category lines are drawn, and that is a scientific question with a real answer. At the same BMI, people of Asian descent tend to carry a higher proportion of body fat than people of European descent, and to deposit more of it viscerally — around the abdominal organs rather than under the skin. That pattern is the one most strongly associated with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The WHO confronted this directly. Its 2004 expert consultation concluded that the proportion of Asian people with a high risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease is substantial at BMI values below the existing overweight cut-off of 25. That is the finding the whole Asian BMI field is built on.
So a BMI of 24.5 is normal on the WHO international scale, overweight on the WHO Asia-Pacific scale, overweight under mainland China's WS/T 428, and overweight in Hong Kong, Korea and India — while still reading as normal on Japan's JASSO scale. All five statements are simultaneously true. They are just answers to different questions.
The 23 / 27.5 myth
Most pages in this niche state that "the Asian BMI scale is 23 for overweight and 27.5 for obesity" and stop there. That is a misreading of a single document, and it is worth understanding why.
The 2004 WHO expert consultation did not redefine overweight and obesity for Asian people. It explicitly agreed to retain the existing WHO international cut-offs — 25 and 30 — as the international classification. What it added was a set of public-health action points at 23.0, 27.5, 32.5 and 37.5 kg/m²: markers along the BMI continuum at which the evidence supports stepping up screening and intervention.
Action points are not disease categories. The WHO kept 30 as the international definition of obesity even after publishing 27.5 as a high-risk trigger. Countries then picked their own national answers from that framework — which is exactly why mainland China landed on 24 and 28, Japan on 25 with no overweight tier, Hong Kong and Korea on 23 and 25, and Singapore on 23 and 27.5.
The distinction is not pedantry. If you read 27.5 as "the Asian obesity line", you will tell a Korean adult at BMI 26 that they are not obese — when the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity classifies BMI 25 and above as class I obesity. Look up the standard you are actually reading against.
Which standard should you use?
| If you are… | Use | Overweight / obesity |
|---|---|---|
| In mainland China | WS/T 428 (China) | 24.0 / 28.0 |
| In Hong Kong, China | Department of Health | 23.0 / 25.0 |
| In Singapore | HPB risk bands | 23.0 / 27.5 |
| In Japan | JASSO | no band / 25.0 |
| In South Korea | KSSO | 23.0 / 25.0 |
| In India or South Asia | Asian Indian consensus | 23.0 / 25.0 |
| Anywhere, and want the strictest clinical screen | ADA 2026 (Asian populations) | 23.0 / 27.5 + waist criteria |
If your country is not listed, default to the WHO Asia-Pacific scale (23.0 / 25.0) and treat the WHO international scale as your comparison baseline.
Measure your waist as well — BMI alone will miss people
The ADA's 2026 adult obesity standards state the problem plainly: BMI's sensitivity for detecting obesity is roughly 50%. Around half of the people who have obesity are missed by BMI alone. Asian populations and older adults are named as the groups where it understates body fat most often.
The fix is a tape measure. Within the BMI 23.0–27.4 band, the ADA reclassifies someone from overweight to obese if their waist is 90 cm or more (men) or 80 cm or more (women), or if their waist-to-height ratio is 0.5 or more. Korea, China and India all set explicit waist thresholds of their own — Korea and China at 90 cm / 85 cm, India at 90 cm / 80 cm.
If you only take one number away from this page, make it this one: your waist should be less than half your height. It is the only threshold on this page that is the same for every ethnicity, and it costs nothing to check.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is there a separate BMI scale for Asian people?
- Because at the same BMI, people of Asian descent tend to carry more body fat and more visceral (abdominal) fat than people of European descent, so type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease appear at lower BMI values. The WHO expert consultation of 2004 concluded that risk in Asian populations is already substantial below BMI 25.
- What is the Asian BMI overweight threshold?
- 23.0 under the WHO 2004 action points, the WHO Asia-Pacific scale and the ADA 2026 standard for Asian populations. Where countries differ is the obesity line: 25.0 in Hong Kong, Korea and India; 27.5 in Singapore and in the ADA standard; 28.0 in mainland China; and 25.0 in Japan, which has no separate overweight band at all.
- Is 23 the same as "obese"?
- No. 23.0 is the point at which risk is measurably increased and screening is recommended. The obesity line sits higher and varies by country — that is the whole reason a single "Asian BMI chart" is misleading.
- My BMI is 24. Which classification should I trust?
- Under the WHO international scale you are normal. Under the WHO Asia-Pacific scale, Hong Kong, Korea and India, you are overweight. Under mainland China's WS/T 428 you are also overweight. Under Japan's JASSO scale you are normal. Measure your waist as well — if it is 90 cm or more (men) or 80 cm or more (women), that is a stronger signal than the BMI band.
Data sources and how we verify them
Every cut-point, band and formula on this page is taken from the issuing authority's own document, listed below. We do not use second-hand summaries, and we do not fill gaps with numbers no source states.
- World Health Organization (WHO)
International cut-points (25 / 30) and the 2004 Asian action points
- National Health Commission of the PRC
China's current adult cut-points — WS/T 428 (24 / 28) and waist criteria
- Department of Health, Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong classification (23 / 25), from the Population Health Survey 2020-22
- Health Promotion Board, Singapore
Singapore's three-band risk ladder (18.5–22.9 / 23.0–27.4 / ≥27.5)
- Japan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO)
Japan's classification, which has no overweight tier (obesity from 25)
- Korean Society for the Study of Obesity (KSSO)
Korea's classification and abdominal-obesity waist thresholds
- Indian Council of Medical Research / Misra consensus
South Asian cut-points, including the 18.0 lower bound
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), UK
Lower ethnic-specific thresholds for Asian adults in the UK (23 / 27.5)
- American Diabetes Association (ADA)
2026 standards — Asian obesity at 27.5 and central obesity overriding BMI
Cut-points are population-level statistical thresholds, not individual diagnoses. If your value sits near a category line, measure your waist as well and read it alongside body-fat percentage. Last checked: 2026-09-15.
Sources
- WHO Expert Consultation — Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations (Lancet 2004;363:157–163)
- WHO / IASO / IOTF — The Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining Obesity and Its Treatment (2000)
- National Health Commission of the PRC — WS/T 428 Criteria of weight for adults
- Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection — Population Health Survey 2020-22, Part II
- Singapore Health Promotion Board — Know Your BMI, Know Your Risk
- Japan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO) — 肥満度分類
- Korean Society for the Study of Obesity — Diagnosis of Obesity, 2022 guideline update
- Misra et al. — Consensus Statement for Asian Indians (JAPI 2009)
- ADA Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026 — adult overweight and obesity
Every figure above was checked against the original document. This page is general information, not medical advice.
Other countries and regions
Health Information Disclaimer
Content on this site is for general information only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult a doctor or qualified health professional for personal health concerns. Last updated: August 9, 2026.
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This page documents 11 published BMI standards. Figures are read from each authority's own document; links are provided per row so you can verify any number yourself.