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Different anthropometric adiposity measures and their association with cardiovascular disease risk factors: a

S B van Dijk1, T Takken, E C Prinsen

  • 1School of Clinical Health Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands, s.b.vandijk@kpnmail.nl.

Netherlands Heart Journal : Monthly Journal of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology and the Netherlands Heart Foundation
|January 11, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Waist circumference is the best measure for assessing cardiovascular disease risk factors in Caucasian adults. This anthropometric adiposity measure shows stronger correlations with risk factors than body mass index (BMI).

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Disease Research
  • Anthropometry and Public Health

Background:

  • Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment relies on various anthropometric measures.
  • Identifying the most effective measure for predicting CVD risk factors is crucial for clinical practice and research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine which anthropometric adiposity measure most strongly correlates with cardiovascular disease risk factors.
  • To compare the efficacy of different measures, including body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, in Caucasian men and women without prior CVD.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies.
  • Included studies reporting correlations between anthropometric measures (BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, body fat percentage) and CVD risk factors (blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose).
  • Data selection and analysis performed by two independent reviewers.

Main Results:

  • Analysis of 20 articles involving over 45,000 subjects.
  • Waist circumference demonstrated the strongest correlation with most CVD risk factors in both sexes.
  • Waist circumference showed superior correlation to CVD risk factors compared to BMI, with few exceptions.

Conclusions:

  • Waist circumference is recommended as the preferred anthropometric measure for evaluating CVD risk factors in clinical and research settings.
  • This recommendation is particularly emphasized when comparing it to body mass index (BMI).
Abstract

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