Waist/height ratio as a simple and useful predictor of coronary heart disease risk factors in women.

To determine whether the waist/height ratio is a better predictor of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors in women than body mass index (BMI) or the waist/hip ratio, simple and multiple regression analysis for these obesity indices and CHD risk factor levels [systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), triglyceride, cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol], prevalences (hypertension, abnormal glucose tolerance, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, low HDL cholesterol) were measured in 1,077 women. The highest regression coefficients were consistently between the waist/height ratio and most of the risk factors by simple regression analysis. Furthermore, the waist/height ratio was the single independent variable to all or most of the risk factors by multiple regression analysis of the waist/height ratio and BMI or the waist/height ratio and the waist/hip ratio. These findings suggest that the waist/height ratio may be a better predictor of multiple CHD risk factors than BMI or the waist/hip ratio.