Impact of anthropometric cut-off values in determining the prevalence of metabolic alterations.
BACKGROUND
The prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide in parallel with associated metabolic disturbances such as diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this article is to underscore discrepancies in the standard anthropometric cut-off values and the presence of metabolic disturbances including diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease caused by biological and ethnic variations.


METHODS
We performed a literature review regarding the diagnosis and prevalence of obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and about the different available indicators to define obesity.


RESULTS
There is an ongoing epidemic of these chronic diseases, partially attributed to the increased prevalence of obesity. The available markers to indicate adiposity are imperfect, and the selection of accurate cut-off points is still not clear.


CONCLUSIONS
Methods to quantify adiposity that are useful in clinical practice should be developed to better classify individuals and to reflect metabolic risk more appropriately.
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico.
Paloma
P
Almeda-Valdes
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico.
Carlos A
CA
Aguilar-Salinas
Liver Research Unit, Medica Sur Clinic & Foundation, Mexico City, Mexico.
Misael
M
Uribe
Unidad de Genómica de Poblaciones Aplicada a la Salud, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica (INMEGEN), Tlalpan, Mexico.
Samuel
S
Canizales-Quinteros
Liver Research Unit, Medica Sur Clinic & Foundation, Mexico City, Mexico. nmendez@medicasur.org.mx.
Nahum
N
Méndez-Sánchez
D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D055105:Waist Circumference / Q000502:physiology
Adiposity; diabetes; metabolic syndrome; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; obesity