Prediction of abdominal visceral obesity from body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio in Chinese adults: receiver operating characteristic curves analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) measurements in diagnosing abdominal visceral obesity.


METHODS
BMI, WC, and WHR were assessed in 690 Chinese adults (305 men and 385 women) and compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VA). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated and used to determine the threshold point for each anthropometric parameter.


RESULTS
1) MRI showed that 61.7% of overweight/obese individuals (BMI > or = 25 kg/m2) and 14.2% of normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2) individuals had abdominal visceral obesity (VA > or = 100 cm2). 2) VA was positively correlated with each anthropometric variable, of which WC showed the highest correlation (r = 0.73-0.77, P < 0.001). 3) The best cut-off points for assessing abdominal visceral obesity were as followed: BMI of 26 kg/m2, WC of 90 cm, and WHR of 0.93, with WC being the most sensitive and specific factor. 4) Among subjects with BMI > or = 28 kg/m2 or WC > or = 95 cm, 95% of men and 90% of women appeared to have abdominal visceral obesity.


CONCLUSIONS
Measurements of BMI, WC, and WHR can be used in the prediction of abdominal visceral obesity, of which WC was the one with better accuracy.
Jia
Wei-Ping
WP
Shanghai Diabetic Institute, Shanghai Jiaotong University Affiliated No. 6 People Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai 200233, China. wpjia@yahoo.com
Lu
Jun-Xi
JX
Xiang
Kun-San
KS
Bao
Yu-Qian
YQ
Lu
Hui-Juan
HJ
Chen
Lei
L
D000005:Abdomen; D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006615:Hip; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009765:Obesity; D012016:Reference Values