title: Association between anthropometric measures of obesity and subclinical atherosclerosis in Bangladesh.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anthropometric measures such as waist-hip-ratio (WHR), waist-height-ratio (WHtR), waist circumference, Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and upper thigh circumference, have been linked to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, their relationships with subclinical atherosclerosis are unclear. Studies in normal-weight populations, especially in Asian countries where leanness is prevalent, are lacking.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the associations of WHR, WHtR, waist circumference, hip circumference, body mass index (BMI), MUAC and upper thigh circumference with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) among 562 middle-aged participants free of CVD in rural Bangladesh.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for age and sex, WHR and waist circumference but not BMI showed a positive significant association with cIMT. In multivariate analysis, each standard deviation (SD) increase of WHR (0.08) or WHtR (0.07) was associated with an 8.96 μm (95% CI, 1.12-16.81) or 11.45 μm (95%CI, 0.86-22.04) difference in cIMT, respectively, after controlling for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, education level, and systolic blood pressure (SBP). The associations of WHR and WHtR with cIMT were independent of the influence of other anthropometric measures. The associations of other anthropometric measures and cIMT were not apparent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our relatively lean, healthy Asian population, WHR and WHtR appear to be better predictors of early atherosclerosis than other common surrogates of adiposity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Wenzhen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Faruque
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Parvez
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Fen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Arsenic Research Project, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Tariqul
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Arsenic Research Project, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Alauddin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Arsenic Research Project, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Ishrat
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shaheen
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Arsenic Research Project, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Golam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sarwar
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Demmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; INSERM, UMR-S 707, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Paris, France; École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, Paris and Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Moise
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desvarieux
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Studies, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: habib@uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Habibul
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ahsan
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: yu.chen@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D001132:Arm / Q000502:physiology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D013848:Thigh / Q000502:physiology; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anthropometric measures; Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT); Preclinical atherosclerosis; Waist–hip-ratio (WHR)