Comparison of waist circumference with body mass index for predicting abdominal adipose tissue

To compare waist circumference (WC) with body mass index (BMI) for the prediction of abdominal adipose tissues in Japanese men and women.

1432 men and 1038 women aged 38-60 years were recruited. WC, BMI, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) using CT scans were measured.

Women had a lower mean VAT than men (79.3 cm(2) vs. 132.3 cm(2); p<0.001) and a higher mean SAT (196.2 cm(2) vs. 139.7 cm(2); p<0.001). The correlation with WC or BMI was greatest for total adipose tissue (TAT), followed by SAT, and least for VAT. The correlation coefficients were not significantly different between WC and BMI for any adipose tissue except for VAT in men (p<0.05). Age was positively correlated with VAT in both genders (p<0.001). Using multiple regression analyses on VAT, R(2) values using WC and age were 0.45 in men and 0.48 in women. For SAT, the values were 0.57 in men and 0.59 in women.

The relationship with WC or BMI was greatest for TAT and SAT, and least for VAT. WC and BMI provided essentially similar estimates of TAT, VAT, and SAT in both genders.