In answer to the comments of Kapoor et al. (Reference Kapoor, Furler, Paul, Thomas and Oldenburg2019) on our article on the variations in body mass index (BMI) and adiposity among the Bengali population (Kryst et al., Reference Kryst, Żegleń, Wronka, Woronkowicz, Bilińska-Pawlak and Das2019), we would like to stress that we are aware of the specificity of the Indian population in regard to body composition. It was even highlighted in the Discussion section of the article that the proportion of fat-to-lean mass, as well as general adiposity, in this ethnic group differ significantly from those observed among Europeans (Lear et al., Reference Lear, Humphries, Kohli, Chockalingam, Frohlich and Birmingham2007, Reference Lear, Kohli, Bondy, Tchernof and Sniderman2009; Katzmarzyk et al., Reference Katzmarzyk, Barreira, Broyles, Champagne, Chaput and Fogelhom2015). However, we would like to thank Kapoor et al. for drawing the readers’ attention to the important issue of the ‘fat overflow hypothesis’, whereby people of South Asian descent have a lower capacity to store superficial subcutaneous fat than the Caucasian population, leading to an increase in visceral fat. Undoubtedly, this is a crucial problem for South Asian populations. As pointed out by Kapoor et al., diseases such as coronary heart disease and type II diabetes can appear at lower absolute adiposity in South Asians than in, for example, Europeans (Sniderman et al., Reference Sniderman, Bhopal, Prabhakaran, Sarrafzadegan and Tchernof2007). Therefore, we agree that it is vital to investigate further the problem of body composition among the Indian population, particularly in children, adolescents and young adults, as adiposity issues present in youth may manifest in the form of metabolic disorders at a later age (Dietz, Reference Dietz1998; de Onis et al., Reference de Onis, Blössner and Borghi2010).

Of course, the need for additional research inseparably connects with the issue of the applied study methods. The DXA (Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry) scanning technique and use of bioelectric impedance are undoubtedly very accurate and relatable methods. They also allow the assessment of not only general adiposity itself, but also the distribution of fat tissue, which is crucial for the problem of the overflow hypothesis. At the same time, the measurements used by Kryst et al. (Reference Kryst, Żegleń, Wronka, Woronkowicz, Bilińska-Pawlak and Das2019) were taken during field examination. The previously mentioned methods require devices that are difficult or even impossible to transport, so it is particularly hard to apply them during such studies. It is true that the applied anthropometric method cannot assess levels of visceral fat, but it is still one of the techniques recommended for the Indian population (Mondal & Sen, Reference Mondal and Sen2010; Sen & Mondal, Reference Sen and Mondal2013; Debnath et al., Reference Debnath, Mondal and Sen2017).

We fully agree with Kapoor et al. (Reference Kapoor, Furler, Paul, Thomas and Oldenburg2019) that further research in Indian population is essential, especially using methods that allow the assessment of visceral adiposity. Such studies conducted using, for example, the bioelectric impedance method could then help not only to give new information on this matter, but also to construct much needed ethnicity-specific cut-off points.