Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what sensitivity NHS BMI assessments allow for persons of mixed (a) South Asian and (b) non-South Asian heritage.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on the management of overweight and obesity. This specifies that a lower body mass index (BMI) threshold should be used as a practical measure of overweight and obesity for some adults from ethnic minority backgrounds, including South Asian, as they are prone to higher levels of abdominal fat and have an increased risk of developing certain health conditions at a lower BMI.