title: Comparison of relative waist circumference between Asian Indian and US adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Relative to Europeans, Asian Indians have higher rates of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Whether differences in body composition may underlie these population differences remains unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared directly measured anthropometric data from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES) survey of southern Indians (I) with those from three US ethnic groups (C: Caucasians, A: African Americans, and M: Mexican Americans) from NHANES III (Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey). A total of 15,733 subjects from CURES and 5,975 from NHANES III met inclusion criteria (age 20-39, no known diabetes).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Asian Indian men and women had substantially lower body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and body surface area relative to US groups (P values <0.0001). In contrast, the mean (±se) waist-weight ratio was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in I (men 1.35 ± 0.002 and women 1.45 ± 0.002) than in all the US groups (1.09, 1.21, and 1.14 in A, M, and C men; 1.23, 1.33, and 1.26 in A, M, and C women (se ranged from 0.005 to 0.006)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared to the US, the waist-weight ratio is significantly higher in men and women from Chennai, India. These results support the hypothesis that Southeast Asian Indians are particularly predisposed toward central adiposity.
authors.affiliation: STOP Diabetes Foundation, Inc., Brampton, ON, Canada L6S 0C9.
authors.forename: Harpreet S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Bajaj
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Madras Diabetes Research Foundation and Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialties Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 086, India.
authors.forename: Rajit Mohan
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Anjana
authors.affiliation: Madras Diabetes Research Foundation and Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialties Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 086, India.
authors.forename: Raj
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deepa
authors.affiliation: Madras Diabetes Research Foundation and Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialties Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 086, India.
authors.forename: Viswanathan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Noel T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA.
authors.forename: Gundu H R
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA.
authors.forename: Myron D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gross
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010641:Phenotype; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data