Relationship of body fat and body mass index in young Pacific Islanders: a cross-sectional study in European, Melanesian and Polynesian groups.

This study shows that Melanesian adolescents have lower %BF than their European counterparts for the same BMI z score. Therefore, the diagnostic accuracy of BMI to detect overfatness is related to ethnicity. Whatever the BMI-based reference, sensitivity was higher in the Melanesian group, while specificity was higher in the European group.