Is there any difference in coronary heart disease risk factors and prevalence of fatty liver in subjects with normal body mass index having different physiques?

Levels of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors such as systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, triglyceride, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, prevalence of hypertension, abnormal glucose tolerance, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, low HDL-cholesterol level, and fatty liver in normal body mass index (BMI) subjects with high or low waist/height ratios were investigated in middle aged men (45-54 years, BMI: 22-23.2 kg/m2) undergoing a routine health examination. The subjects were divided into two groups according to whether their waist/height ratios were > or = 0.5 (n = 131) or < 0.5 (n = 121). There was no significant difference in age or BMI between the two groups, however, fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, triglyceride, cholesterol levels, the prevalence of abnormal glucose tolerance, hypercholesterolemia, fatty liver (30.5% vs. 15.7%, p < 0.01), and morbidity index for CHD risk factors (sum of the five risk factors scored as one point each if present) (1.46 vs. 1.04, p < 0.01) were significantly higher in the high waist/height group. In conclusion, even normal BMI subjects should pay attention to their waist/height ratio because of higher CHD risk factor levels, prevalences, morbidity index for CHD risk factors, and higher prevalence of fatty liver.