The Relationship Between Waist Circumference and Biomarkers for Diabetes and CVD in Healthy Non-Obese Women. The Pensacola Study

Background: Waist circumference (WC) measurement has been shown to perform as well as or better than body mass index (BMI) in identifying women at risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between WC and the classic biomarkers of risk in healthy women. Methods: Nondiabetic, non-obese, middle-aged women were categorized by WC quartiles. The correlation of WC to fasting plasma glucose (FPG), A1c, lipid profile, C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell count (WBC) was examined. Results: Waist circumference correlated with triglycerides, CRP, cholesterol/HDL, non-HDL, LDL, and glucose, and inversely with HDL (r = 0.465, 0.414, 0.321, 0.299, 0.267, 0.279, 0.266, respectively; P = 0.000 for all), but not A1c or WBC. There was a trend of increasing glucose, LDL, and CRP with increasing WC. Quartile 4 showed the highest glucose, CRP, LDL, triglycerides, cholesterol/HDL ratio, and non-HDL. Conclusion: Increasing WC correlates with several biomarkers of risk for diabetes and CVD in healthy women.