title: Assessing factors related to waist circumference and obesity: application of a latent variable model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Because the use of BMI (Body Mass Index) alone as a measure of adiposity has been criticized, in the present study our aim was to fit a latent variable model to simultaneously examine the factors that affect waist circumference (continuous outcome) and obesity (binary outcome) among Iranian adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data included 18,990 Iranian individuals aged 20-65 years that are derived from the third National Survey of Noncommunicable Diseases Risk Factors in Iran. Using latent variable model, we estimated the relation of two correlated responses (waist circumference and obesity) with independent variables including age, gender, PR (Place of Residence), PA (physical activity), smoking status, SBP (Systolic Blood Pressure), DBP (Diastolic Blood Pressure), CHOL (cholesterol), FBG (Fasting Blood Glucose), diabetes, and FHD (family history of diabetes).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All variables were related to both obesity and waist circumference (WC). Older age, female sex, being an urban resident, physical inactivity, nonsmoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia, diabetes, and having family history of diabetes were significant risk factors that increased WC and obesity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings from this study of Iranian adult settings offer more insights into factors associated with high WC and high prevalence of obesity in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran 1985713834, Iran.
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dalvand
authors.affiliation: Center for Diseases Control, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Jalil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koohpayehzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran 1985713834, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karimlou
authors.affiliation: Center for Diseases Control, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fereshteh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Asgari
authors.affiliation: Center for Diseases Control, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rafei
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Behjat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Seifi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Hassan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Niksima
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran 1985713834, Iran.
authors.forename: Enayatollah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bakhshi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult