title: Trends in waist circumference and central obesity in adults, northern iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main aim of this study is to determine the central obesity trends during the period from 2006 to 2010 among 15-65 years old people in Northern Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a population-based cross-sectional study conducted on 6466 subjects who had been chosen by a multi stage cluster random sampling within five steps. The subjects were randomly chosen from 325 clusters and each cluster included 20 cases. Central obesity was defined as waist circumference ³102 cm and ³88 cm in men and women, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to 2010, the mean waist circumference in 2006 changed from 87.2 cm to 88.1 cm in men (p=0.237), and from 90.3 cm to 88.6 cm in women (p=0.045). The comparison between 2006 and 2010 revealed that the prevalence of central obesity slightly decreased, 6.8% and 2.4% in urban women and men, respectively. Generally, the mean of waist circumference significantly decreased in urban women (by 0.069 cm in each year; p=0.020); however, the decrease of waist circumference in urban men was not significant (0.006 cm decrease each year; p=0.915).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of central obesity declined among both males and females in the urban area; however, there was an attenuated increasing trend in the rural area. The disparity of trends between the two regions should be considered for further study.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Veghari
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sedaghat
authors.forename: Samieh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Banihashem
authors.forename: Pooneh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moharloei
authors.forename: Abdolhamid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angizeh
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tazik
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moghaddami