Measures of abdominal obesity within body mass index categories, 1981 and 2007-2009

This article describes measures of abdominal obesity--waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist-to-height ratio--within body mass index (BMI) categories, using data from two population-based health surveys. Among normal-weight men, the percentages at increased/high health risk based on these three measures were not statistically different in 2007-2009 than in 1981. By contrast, among normal-weight women, increases were observed in the percentage at increased/high health risk based on each of the three measures. The percentage of overweight men at increased/high risk based on waist circumference rose from 49% in 1981 to 62% in 2007-2009, and among overweight women, the percentage at increased/high risk rose for each of the three measures (64% to 93% for waist circumference, 22% to 51% for waist-to-hip ratio, and 68% to 87% for waist-to-height ratio). Although substantial percentages of men and women in obese class I were at increased/high health risk based on abdominal obesity measures in 1981, by 2007-2009, almost everyone in this BMI category was at increased/high risk.