[Waist circumference as a predictor of insulin resistance in young men]

Waist circumference (WC) is a measure of upper body fat and so should be useful for identifying overweight and obese men at risk of developing metabolic complications. The objective was to determine the relations of WC to cardiovascular risk factors in a sample of young men and to assess the clinical relevance of WC in identifying insulin resistance.

This study included 194 male Spanish subjects aged 26 (5) years who were divided in 3 groups according to the WC: Normal (< 94 cm), moderate risk (> or = 94 cm) and elevated risk (> or = 102 cm). Body mass index (BMI), WC, blood pressure, serum levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, glucose, uric acid and insulin were measured by standard methods. The homeostasis model assessment was applied to estimate the degree of insulin resistance (HOMAIR).

The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 46.9% and 6.7% respectively. Men with moderate and elevated risk showed higher concentrations of glucose (p < 0.004), uric acid (p < 0.001), TG (p < 0.001), LDL-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol index (p < 0.001), insulin (p < 0.001) and HOMAIR (p < 0.001). WC was significantly correlated with age (r = 0,282; p < 0.001), TG (r = 0.308; p < 0,001), insulin (r = 0.282; p < 0.001) and HOMAIR (r = 0.281; p < 0.001). A multivariate linear correlation analysis showed that HOMAIR was significantly associated with WC (p < 0.009) and TG (p < 0.003; r2 = 0.13).

WC of these young men was independently associated with certain cardiovascular risk factors, in particular insulin resistance. This suggests that WC may be reasonably included in clinical practice as a simple tool that may help identify sub-groups of overweight or obese young men at higher metabolic risk.