Anthropometric obesity indices and metabolic syndrome in Japanese working men.

BACKGROUND

Although the prevalence of obesity in the Japanese adult population is lower than that in the US adult population, there appears to be a trend towards increase in the prevalence of obesity in Japanese men. In this study, the usefulness of waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) determination as predictors of metabolic syndrome (MetS) was evaluated in Japanese working men.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in the spring of 2007. The sample included 3,486 working men aged 35 to 59 years. The standard criteria of the International Diabetes Federation were used to determine the prevalence of MetS. The results were adjusted for age, smoking, habitual drinking and serum uric acid. To calculate the OR, MetS was tentatively defined as the presence of two or more of the following criteria in the subjects: high blood pressure, glucose intolerance, and dyslipidemia.

RESULTS

The prevalence of MetS was 17.0%, and it increased with age until the mid-50s. The percentages of subjects with high blood pressure, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia and hyperuricemia were 57.3, 12.7, 29.4 and 21.3%, respectively. As compared to that in the subjects classified in the lowest WC quintile, the ORs (95% confidence interval (CI)) for MetS of a WC in the range of 76.0 to 81.4, 81.5 to 85.9, 86.0 to 90.9, and >or= 91 cm were 1.66 (1.13-2.45), 1.74 (1.13-2.67), 2.37 (1.50-3.74), and 2.84(1.73-4.64), respectively. In contrast, the OR (95% CI) for MetS of a BMI in the range of 24.5 to 26.5 and >or= 26.6 Kg/m2 were 2.43 (1.58-3.73) and 3.27 (2.04-5.27), which just about reached the significance level.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of MetS was correlated with the obesity indices. However, BMI values in the high normal range were not significantly associated with the risk of MetS.