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What is ABSI index?

You’re probably familiar with the term body mass index, or BMI. In a nutshell, it’s a formula that compares your weight to your height. BMI doesn’t tell you anything about where you’re carrying your weight. That’s key because numerous studies indicate that carrying excess belly fat, or being apple shaped, is more risky for your health, than being bottom heavy, or pear shaped. That’s why researchers at City College of New York developed a new formula they call A Body Shape Index (Absi index). When the researchers took data from a US sample of over 14,000 non-pregnant adults, crunched the numbers, and compared them with mortality rates for the same group, they found some interesting results. High death rates were correlated with both low and high BMI, but ABSI predicted premature death regardless of other factors like age, sex, ethnicity, and smoking (smokers weigh less than people who don’t smoke cigarettes). In other words, even if you’re young with a normal BMI, you may be at greater risk of dying sooner, if you carry more weight in your midsection relative to your height and weight.
Quote from PLOS One and shape.com