Waist-to-Height Ratio as an Index for Cardiometabolic Risk in Adolescents: Results from the 1998-2008 KNHANES.
10.3349/ymj.2016.57.3.658
- Author:
In Hyuk CHUNG
1
;
Sangshin PARK
;
Mi Jung PARK
;
Eun Gyong YOO
Author Information
1. Department of Pediatrics, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
- Publication Type:Evaluation Studies ; Original Article
- Keywords:
Waist;
height;
body mass index;
metabolic syndrome;
obesity
- MeSH:
Adolescent;
Blood Pressure/physiology;
*Body Height;
Body Mass Index;
Cardiovascular Diseases/*epidemiology;
Child;
Cholesterol, HDL/blood;
Female;
Humans;
Hypertension/complications/epidemiology;
Male;
Metabolic Syndrome X/*epidemiology;
Nutrition Surveys;
Obesity, Abdominal/complications/*epidemiology;
Republic of Korea/epidemiology;
Risk Factors;
Triglycerides/blood;
*Waist Circumference/physiology;
*Waist-Height Ratio;
Young Adult
- From:Yonsei Medical Journal
2016;57(3):658-663
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: To describe the relationship between the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) and to evaluate the validity of WHtR in identifying adolescents with metabolic syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed data from a pooled population of 4068 adolescents aged 10-19 years from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys conducted between 1998 and 2008. Overweight individuals were defined by body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile. Those with at least 2 CMRFs among hypertension, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were classified as having multiple CMRFs. RESULTS: WHtR was significantly related to systolic blood pressure, HDL-C, and triglycerides in both non-overweight and overweight adolescents (all p<0.01). Among overweight adolescents, the area under the curve (AUC) for WHtR in identifying multiple CMRFs was significantly greater than that for BMI (p=0.014). Metabolic syndrome was more common in overweight adolescents with a WHtR of ≥0.5 than in those with a WHtR of <0.5 (p<0.001). In non-overweight adolescents, the prevalences of multiple CMRFs (p=0.001) and metabolic syndrome (p<0.001) were higher in those with a WHtR of ≥0.5 than in those with a WHtR of <0.5. Among those without central obesity, the prevalence of multiple CMRFs was higher in those with a WHtR of ≥0.5 than in those with a WHtR of <0.5 (p=0.021). CONCLUSION: WHtR is a simple and valid index for identifying adolescents with increased cardiometabolic risk and is related to CMRFs even in non-overweight adolescents. In adolescents already screened via BMI and waist circumference (WC), WHtR seems to be of additional help in discriminating those at higher cardiometabolic risk.
