**6. Obesity screening anthropometric indices: body mass index (BMI) and mid-upper arm circumference(MUA)**

BMI is currently the metric measure used to determine categories of bodyweight in adults (**Table 3**). Other methods and techniques of estimating body fat and bodyfat distribution includes measurements of the waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio, underwater weighing, bioelectrical impedance analysis, skin-fold thickness and imaging techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging with the later giving the most accurate estimates of body composition [44]. The problem of using MUAC is that there is no consensus on its cut-offs internationally [45]. Waist circumference has likewise been shown to estimate body fat, but is a fairly better guide to cardiometabolic disease risks as it identifies people with relatively low BMI but with increased intra-abdominal fat accumulation [46].

In most studies which have measured estimated total body fat by a reference method, BMI was found not to be a strong predictor of body fat [47] and therefore other methods should be developed to better classify individuals at risk of


*Disease risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and CVD. † Increased waist circumference can also be a marker for increased risk even in persons of normal weight.*
