Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Diabetol Metab Syndr. 2013 Nov 19;5(1):74. doi: 10.1186/1758-5996-5-74.
Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are the most used anthropometric measures to identify obesity. While BMI is considered to be a simple and accurate estimate of general adiposity, WC is an alternative surrogate measure of visceral obesity. However, WC is subject to significant inter-examiner variation. The aim of the present study was to correlate BMI and WC measures in a group of Brazilian adults to determine the most accurate BMI values for predicting abnormal WC.
BMI and WC were measured in 1184 volunteers (45.6 ± 17.3 yrs; 69% female) using standard procedures. Abnormal WC was defined as ≥88 cm in women and ≥102 cm in men using the traditional criteria, and ≥80 cm in women and ≥90 cm in men using the new criteria. Statistical analysis involved the calculation of Pearson's correlation coefficients and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.
BMI was strongly correlated with WC (women: r = 0.87, p < 0.0001, area under ROC curve = 0.93 ± 0.1; men: r = 0.89, p < 0.0001, area under ROC curve = 0.94 ± 0.01). The most accurate BMI cutoff point for abnormal WC was 27.1 kg/m2 for men and 26.8 kg/m2 for women using the traditional WC criteria, and 24.7 kg/m2 for men and 24.9 kg/m2 for women using the new WC criteria.
Based on the strong correlation found with WC, BMI can be used as the primary anthropometric measure to estimate adiposity, since both obese and most overweight subjects will have abnormal WC.
体重指数（BMI）和腰围（WC）是最常用的人体测量指标，用于识别肥胖。虽然 BMI 被认为是一种简单而准确的总体肥胖估计值，但 WC 是内脏肥胖的替代替代测量值。然而，WC 受到显著的检查者间差异的影响。本研究的目的是在一组巴西成年人中比较 BMI 和 WC 测量值，以确定预测异常 WC 最准确的 BMI 值。
使用标准程序测量了 1184 名志愿者（45.6±17.3 岁；69%为女性）的 BMI 和 WC。异常 WC 定义为女性≥88cm 和男性≥102cm（使用传统标准），女性≥80cm 和男性≥90cm（使用新标准）。统计分析包括皮尔逊相关系数和受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线的计算。
BMI 与 WC 呈强相关性（女性：r=0.87，p<0.0001，ROC 曲线下面积=0.93±0.1；男性：r=0.89，p<0.0001，ROC 曲线下面积=0.94±0.01）。使用传统 WC 标准，男性异常 WC 的最佳 BMI 截断值为 27.1kg/m2，女性为 26.8kg/m2；使用新的 WC 标准，男性和女性异常 WC 的最佳 BMI 截断值分别为 24.7kg/m2 和 24.9kg/m2。
基于与 WC 的强相关性，BMI 可以用作估计肥胖的主要人体测量指标，因为肥胖和大多数超重的患者都将出现异常 WC。
