Waist circumference in children and adolescents predicts insulin resistance, a risk factor for diabetes, and this is independent of body mass index (BMI - a height to weight ratio used to determine how thin or fat an individual is). Researchers form the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, USA, investigated how well waist circumference reflected total fat, superficial abdominal fat (subcutaneous fat) and fat surrounding internal organs (visceral fat) in youths, and whether waist circumference alone predicted insulin resistance. It was found that waist circumference was an independent predictor of total body fat tissue, total abdominal fat tissue, visceral fat tissue and abdominal subcutaneous fat tissue. Waist circumference was marginally, but consistently, better at predicting these conditions than was the combination of waist circumference and BMI. The results indicate that the influence of high BMI on total and abdominal fat and metabolic profiles are controlled through central obesity, measured by waist circumference. The findings also suggest that waist circumference alone predicts total and abdominal fat and metabolic risk factors. Waist circumference may be especially useful because it requires only one measurement, whereas BMI requires weight and height measurements plus a calculation. Physicians should be aware of this and discuss it with their patients and educate them.
Journal of Pediatrics,
March 2006