title: Appropriate waist circumference cutoff points for central obesity in Korean adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The International Diabetes Federation consensus recently proposed a new definition for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, incorporating ethnically specific waist circumference (WC) cutoff points.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the ethnically appropriate WC cutoff values for central obesity in Korean adults to predict increased risk of elevated triacylglycerol, reduced HDL cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting plasma glucose, or two or more of these factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from 6561 adults, aged 20-80 years, who participated in the Korean Health and Nutritional Examination Survey of 1998, a cross-sectional health survey of a nationally representative sample of Koreans.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the WC value for predicting metabolic risk factors in Koreans was about 85 cm for men and 80 cm for women. The odds ratio for the risk of two or more metabolic risk factors increased abruptly in men with WC >or= 90 cm and women with WC >or= 85 cm. The 80th percentile for WC in the Korean population was 90 cm for men and 86.5 cm for women. Thus, the appropriate WC cutoff point for central obesity in Koreans was determined to be 90 cm for men and 85 cm for women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on our criteria, the prevalence of central obesity was 19.8% in Korean men and 24.5% in Korean women. These findings suggest the applicability of ethnically specific cutoff points for WC in assessing central obesity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Pusan University, Pusan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Yeoup
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hye Soon
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dae Jung
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jee Hye
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Seon Mee
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Guem Joo
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Dae Young
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyuk Sang
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Sung Rae
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang Beom
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seung Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Cheol Young
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyung Joon
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D049628:Body Size; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000145:classification*; D011336:Probability; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids