Waist circumference is useless to assess the prevalence of metabolic abnormalities in severely obese women.
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.
Drapeau
Vicky
V
Division of Kinesiology, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Laval University, Québec, Canada.
Lemieux
Isabelle
I
Richard
Denis
D
Bergeron
Jean
J
Tremblay
Angelo
A
Biron
Simon
S
Marceau
Picard
P
Mauriège
Pascale
P
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