Premium
Waist circumference was not better in identifying individuals at risk for metabolic disorders than BMI among Koreans
Author(s) -
Lee SooKyung
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.933.1
Subject(s) - waist , medicine , overweight , obesity , circumference , metabolic syndrome , national health and nutrition examination survey , body mass index , waist to height ratio , environmental health , population , geometry , mathematics
Obesity is an important global public health issue. Effective screening tools for obesity and co‐morbidities, therefore, are also important. This study examined whether BMI is better than waist circumference as a screening tool for obesity‐related metabolic disorders, using 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Sensitivity and specificity of BMI and waist circumference were calculated for metabolic disorders (diabetes, hypertension, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL‐c, and LDL‐c). Waist circumference showed similar levels of sensitivity (40~50%) and specificity (60~80%) to those of BMI of 25 (“obesity). But, BMI of 23(“overweight”) resulted in higher sensitivity (70~80%) and lower specificity (40~60%). The problem of waist circumference was low sensitivity at the range of 30s to 40s, and low sensitivity would mean high proportion of false negative. The study did not find the superiority of waist circumference to BMI in identifying individuals at risk for metabolic disorders among Koreans. Therefore, it appears that BMI is still the practical screening tool for obesity‐related metabolic disorders. This work was supported by INHA UNIVERSITY Research Grant (INHA‐37464).