title: Waist circumference is useless to assess the prevalence of metabolic abnormalities in severely obese women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present retrospective study aims to provide additional evidence supporting the fact that waist circumference, in severe obesity, is not a good clinical marker to identify individuals with the metabolic syndrome or an altered metabolic profile.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relationships between waist circumference and metabolic profile of pre- (n=165) and postmenopausal (n=43) severely obese women were compared to associations observed in pre- (n=52) and postmenopausal (n=35) moderately obese women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that abdominal obesity assessed by waist circumference was more highly correlated with fasting glycemia, HDL-cholesterol and the cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio in moderately than in severely obese women, before menopause. After menopause, waist circumference was not a valuable predictor of metabolic abnormalities in both groups. Moreover, when waist circumference was included as a criterion of the metabolic syndrome (as defined by the NCEP ATP III guidelines) in severely obese women, the prevalence of this metabolic condition was over-estimated by 72%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results emphasize the uselessness of waist circumference to assess the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome or an altered metabolic profile in severely obese women.
authors: Division of Kinesiology, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Laval University, Québec, Canada.
authors: Vicky
authors: V
authors: Drapeau
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Lemieux
authors: Denis
authors: D
authors: Richard
authors: Jean
authors: J
authors: Bergeron
authors: Angelo
authors: A
authors: Tremblay
authors: Simon
authors: S
authors: Biron
authors: Picard
authors: P
authors: Marceau
authors: Pascale
authors: P
authors: Mauriège
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio