OBJECTIVE

To explore the association of obesity indicators with hypertension and dyslipidemia in adults.

METHODS

The study used anthropometric data of 1022 adults aged 18-69 years in Liaoning, Henan and Hunan Provinces in 2012 to describe the overweight and obesity rate of body mass index( BMI), waist circumference( WC), waist to height ratio( WHtR), waist hip ratio( WHR) and body fat percentage( BF%). The ability of indicators to predict the risk of hypertension and dyslipidemia was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic( ROC) curve analysis.

RESULTS

In comparison of anthropometric measurements, male WC was significantly higher than female, thigh circumference( ThC) was no gender differences and thigh height ratio( THtR) lower in men than in women. The obesity index was used to determine the overweight and obesity rate of Chinese adults: WHtR > WHR > BMI > BF% > WC was58. 7%, 50. 4%, 49. 1%, 35. 7% and 35. 3%, respectively. The obesity rate of BMI was13. 2%, significantly lower than other indicators. The ROC curve illustrated area under curve( AUC) of WHtR was the largest in predicting the risk of hypertension, and the cutoff values were 0. 53 and 0. 56 in male and female. AUC of WHR were the largest with hypercholesterolemia as dependent variables in male and female and as the only significant indicator in men. The value of BMI, WC, WHtR, WHR and BF% to predict the risk of hypertriglyceridemia was similar. ThC and THtR had a better prognosis value than BMI, WC, WHtR and other common indicators in low high-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia, especially in male residents. The cut-off values of ThC were 52. 50 and 55. 40, and the cut-off values of THtR were 0. 31 and 0. 35 in male and female.

CONCLUSION

Men are more likely to hoard fat in the abdomen, female fat easily in the thigh accumulation. WHtR is the best index in predicting the risk of hypertension. The association between obesity indexes and different clinical classification of dyslipidemia are not the same: WHR shows the best effect in predicting the risk of hypercholesterolemia, BMI, WC, WHtR, WHR and BF% have the same value in predicting the risk of hypertriglyceridemia, ThC and THtR are better than BMI, WC, WHtR and other common indicators in predicting the risk of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia, especially in male residents.