The simple message: “Keep your waist circumference to less than half your height”
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To date, there are no universally agreed cut-points to determine at which stage a waist circumference becomes too large in young people. This study aimed to examine the relation between sex- and age-specific waist circumference cut-points, the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) cut-point of <0.5 and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk clustering in 164 young people. Among these, 19 subjects were identified as having CVD risk clustering: they were significantly heavier and had higher body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference z-scores compared to those without CVD risk clustering. The WHtR cut-point of 0.5 estimated CVD risk clustering to a similar extent to sex- and age-adjusted cut-points for waist circumference and BMI. Compared to subjects who did not have excess central adiposity, those with excess central adiposity (WHtR≥0.5) were 11 times more likely to have CVD risk clustering. According to the authors, WHtR has numerous advantages as it is easy to calculate and does not require sex- and age-specific centiles. Moreover, the message “Keep one’s waist circumference to less than half one’s height” is simple and easily understood by both clinicians and families.
Abstract
