title: BMI-specific waist circumference thresholds to discriminate elevated cardiometabolic risk in White and African American adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Waist circumference (WC) is a useful anthropometric tool to estimate cardiometabolic risk. However, BMI influences the relationship between WC and health. This study determined BMI-, sex- and race-specific WC thresholds.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample included 6,452 whites and African Americans (AA) aged 18-64 years. WC, BMI, and cardiovascular risk factors were assessed in the clinic. An elevated cardiometabolic risk was defined as the presence of ≥2 cardiometabolic risk factors. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine BMI-, sex-, and race-specific WC thresholds.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on logistic regression, elevated WC within each BMI category was associated with higher cardiometabolic risk. The respective optimal BMI-specific WC thresholds for white women, AA women, white men, and AA men were as follows: 72, 76, 82, and 78 cm for normal-weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)); 87, 85, 95, and 92 cm for overweight (25-29.9 kg/m(2)); 97, 97, 107, and 104 cm for obese I (30-34.9 kg/m(2)); and 111, 110, 120, and 119 cm for obese II+ (≥35 kg/m(2)) participants. Sensitivities ranged from 52.7 to 73.3%, and specificities ranged from 57.1 to 73.5%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proposed optimal BMI-, sex-, and race-specific WC thresholds are warranted for use in the clinical setting until representative standards become available based on results from longitudinal studies.
authors: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4124, USA.
authors: Amanda E
authors: AE
authors: Staiano
authors: Claude
authors: C
authors: Bouchard
authors: Peter T
authors: PT
authors: Katzmarzyk
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D014481:United States; D055105:Waist Circumference / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult
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