Waist to Height Ratio as a Predictor of Abdominal Fat Distribution in Men

10.4077/CJP.2009.AMH064

Hong-Yan Wu；Shuang-Ying Xu；Lu-Lu Chen；Hui-Fang Zhang

central obesity ； waist to height ratio ； visceral abdominal adipose tissue ； subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue

The Chinese Journal of Physiology

52卷6期（2009 / 12 / 01）

441 - 445

英文

The accumulation of fat in visceral (VA) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SA) is highly correlated with the metabolic abnormalities that contribute to increased risk of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. The purpose of the study was to determine which of the four indices-waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist to height ratio (WHtR) and body mass index (BMI)-was the best predictor of VA and SA in men. We studied 111 men with a wide range of BMI, WC, WHtR, WHR and BMI determined by standard methods. SA and VA were quantified using computed tomography. In univariate and multiple regression analyses, WHtR had the highest correlation with VA and SA. To assess the relative strength of these associations, we used non-nested regression models. WHtR was a stronger predictor of SA than BMI (P=0.02), but the relative strength of WC and BMI in predicting SA did not differ significantly (P＞0.05). WHtR was a stronger predictor of VA than WC (P=0.012), BMI (P＜0.001) or WHR (P＜0.001). In men, WHtR is a good anthropometric index which has a stronger correlation with the distribution of visceral and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue than BMI or WHR. Its association is closer to or stronger than WC.

1. Wu, H.Y.,Chen, L.L.,Zheng, J.,Liao, Y.F.,Zhou, M.(2007).Simple anthropometric indices in relation to cardiovascular risk factors in Chinese Type 2 diabetic patients.Chinese J. Physiol.,50,135-142.
   連結：
2. Andel, J.(1993).On non-nested regression models.Comment Math. Univ. Carolinae,34,335-340.
3. Ashwell, M.,Cole, T.J.,Dixon, A.K.(1996).Ratio of waist circumference to height is strong predictor of intra-abdominal fat.Br. Med. J.,313(7056),559-560.
4. Chan, D.C.,Watts, G.F.,Barrett, P.H.,Burke, V.(2003).Waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index as predictors of adipose tissue compartments in men.Q. J. Med.,96,441-447.
5. Despres, J.P.,Moorjani, S.,Lupien, P.J.,Tremblay, A.,Nadeau, A.,Bouchard, C.(2000).Regional distribution of body fat, plasma lipoproteins, and cardiovascular disease.Atherosclerosis,10,497-511.
6. Deurenberg, P.,Yap, M.(1999).The assessment of obesity: methods for measuring body fat and global prevalence of obesity.Bailliere Clin. Endocrinol. Metab.,13,1-11.
7. Ferland, M.,Despres, J.P.,Tremblay, A.,Pinault, S.,Nadeau, A.,Moorjani, S.,Lupien, P.J.,Theriault, G.,Bouchard, C.(1989).Assessment of adipose tissue distribution by computed axial tomography in obese women: association with body density and anthropometric measurements.Br. J. Nutr.,61,139-148.
8. Ho, S.Y.,Lam, T.H.,Janus, E.D.(2003).Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study Steering Committee. Waist to stature ratio is more strongly associated with cardiovascular risk factors than other simple anthropometric indices.Ann. Epidemiol.,13,683-691.
9. Hsieh, S.D.,Yoshinaga, H.,Muto, T.(2003).Waist-to-height ratio, a simple and practical index for assessing central fat distribution and metabolic risk in Japanese men and women.Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord.,27,610-616.
10. Janssen, I.,Heymsfield, S.B.,Allison, D.B.,Kolter, D.P.,Ross, R.(2002).Body mass index and waist circumference independently contribute to the prediction of nonabdominal, abdominal subcutaneous, and visceral fat.Am. J. Clin. Nutr.,75,683-688.
11. Jia, W.P.,Lu, J.X.,Xiang, K.S.,Bao, Y.Q.,Lu, H.J.,Chen, L.(2003).Prediction of abdominal visceral obesity from body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio in Chinese adults: receiver operating characteristic curves analysis.Biomed. Environ. Sci.,16,206-211.
12. Kelley, D.E.,Thaete, F.L.,Troost, F.,Huwe, T.,Goodpaster, B.H.(2000).Subdivisions of subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue and insulin resistance.Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab.,278,941-948.
13. Kuk, J.L.,Church, T.S.,Blair, S.N.,Ross, R.(2006).Does measurement site for visceral and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue alter associations with the metabolic syndrome?.Diabetes Care,29,679-684.
14. Lebovitz, H.E.,Banerji, M.A.(2005).Point: Visceral adiposity is causally related to insulin resistance.Diabetes Care,28,2322-2325.
15. Miles, J.M.,Jensen, M.D.(2005).Counterpoint: visceral adiposity is not causally related to insulin resistance.Diabetes Care,28,2326-2328.
16. Miyatake, N.,Takenami, S.,Fujii, M.(2004).Evaluation of visceral adipose accumulation in Japanese women and establishment of a predictive formula.Acta Diabetol.,41,113-117.
17. Pouliot, M.C.,Despres, J.P.,Lemieux, S.,Moorjani, S.,Bouchard, C.,Tremblay, A.,Nadeau, A.,Lupien, P.J.(1994).Waist circumference and abdominal sagittal diameter: best simple anthropometric indexes of abdominal visceral adipose tissue accumulation and related cardiovascular risk in men and women.Am. J. Cardiol.,73,460-468.
18. Schoen, R.E.,Thaete, F.L.,Sankey, S.S.,Weissfeld, J.L.,Kuller, L.H.(1998).Sagittal diameter in comparison with single slice CT as a predictor of total visceral adipose tissue volume.Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord.,22,338-342.
19. Thaete, F.L.,Colberg, S.R.,Burke, T.,Kelley, D.E.(1995).Reproducibility of computed tomography measurement of visceral adipose tissue area.Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord.,19,464-467.
20. Tokunaga K.,Matsuzawa Y.,Ishikawa K.,Tarui, S.(1983).A novel technique for the determination of body fat by computed tomography.Int. J. Obes.,7,437-445.
21. Tseng, C.H.(2005).Waist-to-height ratio is independently and better associated with urinary albumin excretion rate than waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio in Chinese adult type 2 diabetic women but not men.Diabetes Care,28,2249-2251.
22. Yoshizumi, T.,Nakamura, T.,Yamane, M.,Islam, A.H.,Menju, M.,Yamasaki, K.,Arai, T.,Kotani, K.,Funahashi, T.,Yamashita, S.,Matsuzawa, Y.(1999).Abdominal fat: standardized technique for measurement at CT.Radiology,211,283-286.