Relationship of Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference and Waist-Stature Ratio with Body Fat of the Indian Gorkha Population
- Author:
Varte LR, Rawat S
;
Singh I
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Body mass index, cut-off waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, waiststature ratio
- From:
Malaysian Journal of Nutrition
2013;19(2):185-192
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Introduction: Body mass index (BMI) has traditionally been the chosen indicator
by which to measure body size, composition, and to diagnose underweight and
overweight. However, alternative measures that reflect abdominal adiposity,
such as waist circumference, waist–hip ratio and waist–height ratio, have been
suggested as being superior to BMI in predicting cardio-vascular diseases (CVD)
risk. This study was aimed at determining the predictive power of anthropometric
indicators like body mass index, waist circumference and waist stature ratio
with body fat in an Indian military personnel population group, and to establish
cut-off points as discriminators of high body fat. Methods: The study was crosssectional
in nature with a sample size of 388 active Gorkha male personnel aged
20-49 years (mean age 33.1±5.33). Anthropometric indicators included body mass
index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and waist-stature ratio. The analysis
of receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) with a confidence interval of
95% was adopted to identify predictors of obesity. Subsequently, the cut-off
points with their relevant sensitivities and specificities were identified. Result:
Areas under the ROC curves with 95% confidence intervals were body mass
index = 0.86 (0.84-0.88); waist circumference = 0.82 (0.80-0.84); waist- hip ratio =
0.74 (0.71-0.77); waist-stature ratio = 0.81 (0.78-0.84). Different cut-off points of
anthropometric indicators with better predictive power and their relevant
sensitivities and specificities were identified. The following cut-offs with their
corresponding sensitivity and specificity values are suggested for determining
obesity for the study population: body mass index= 23.4 (98.00, 62.00), waist
circumference= 77.8 (98.00, 60.50) and waist stature ratio= 0.47 (98.60, 68.00)
respectively. Conclusion: The results showed that among active military
personnel, BMI, WC and WSR may serve well in classifying individuals into
broad categories corresponding to percentage fat categories. Further studies on
different populations should be undertaken for the verification of the cut-off
levels identified.
- Full text:W020150716518972020723.pdf
