Ashwell Margaret, Hsieh Shiun Dong
Oxford Brookes University, Ashwell Associates, Ashwell Street, Ashwell, UK, Headington Campus, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, UK.
Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2005 Aug;56(5):303-7. doi: 10.1080/09637480500195066.
We suggest that a simple, rapid screening tool-the waist-to-height ratio (WHTR)-could help to overcome debates about the use of different body mass index (BMI) boundary values for assessing health risks in different populations. There are six reasons for our proposal: WHTR is more sensitive than BMI as an early warning of health risks. WHTR is cheaper and easier to measure and calculate than BMI. A boundary value of WHTR = 0.5 indicates increased risk for men and women. A boundary value of WHTR = 0.5 indicates increased risk for people in different ethnic groups. WHTR boundary values can be converted into a consumer-friendly chart. WHTR may allow the same boundary values for children and adults. Communicating messages about health risk could be much simpler if the same anthropometric index and the same public health message can be used throughout childhood, into adult life, and throughout the world. This simple message is: Keep your waist circumference to less than half your height.
我们建议，一种简单、快速的筛查工具——腰高比（WHTR）——有助于解决关于使用不同体重指数（BMI）临界值来评估不同人群健康风险的争论。我们提出这一建议有六个原因：作为健康风险的早期预警，腰高比比体重指数更敏感。腰高比比体重指数更便宜，测量和计算也更容易。腰高比=0.5的临界值表明男性和女性的风险增加。腰高比=0.5的临界值表明不同种族人群的风险增加。腰高比临界值可以转换成便于消费者理解的图表。腰高比可能允许儿童和成人使用相同的临界值。如果在儿童期、成年期以及全世界都能使用相同的人体测量指数和相同的公共卫生信息，那么传达健康风险信息可能会简单得多。这个简单的信息是：保持腰围小于身高的一半。
