Assessing obesity:Can body mass index substitute for waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio entirely

Objective To compare the correlativity of three obesity indicators and metabolic indexes,and explore the feasibility of body mass index(BMI)substitute for waist circumference(WC)or waist-to-hip ratio(WHR)entirely.Methods Totally 2054 individual records from Jan.2009 to Jun.2010 in the health care center database of Renji Hospital were selected in the study,including 1322 males and 732 females.The correlativity of three obesity indicators and metabolic indexes was calculated in different gender groups.And the discrepancy was analysed among BMI,WC and WHR,when assessing obesity of the same subjects.Results Results the levels of TG,HDL,LDL,FPG,HbA1C and blood pressure were significantly different between the normal and abnormal group(P0.05),using any of the obesity indicators.The incidences of obesity differed from each other,when using different obesity indicators to assess obesity in the same subjects.The incidence of abnormal WC was 19.3%and33.8%in males and females with BMI25 kg/m2.If 23.2 kg/m2 had been used as the cut point of female BMI,the sensitivity and specificity of screening abdominal obesity would be improved to 78.1% and 87.9%.Conclusion BMI cannot substitute for WC or WHR entirely,especially when screening the abdominal obesity.There are significantly gender differences in BMI.If 23.2 kg/m2 has been used as the cut point of female BMI,the accuracy of screening abdominal obesity would be significantly improved.