Objectives: The study aimed to compare the performance of weight circumference (WC) measurement using the World Health Organization (WHO) versus National Institutes of Health (NIH) protocol in identifying visceral adiposity, and to determine the association of WC with cardiometabolic risk factors among overweight and obese adult Filipinos. Methodology: A retrospective study involving 221 subjects (99 males, 122 females) evaluated at an outpatient weight intervention center of a tertiary hospital. The WC was measured at the superior border of the iliac crest (WC-NIH) and midway between the lowest rib and the iliac crest (WC-WHO) for each patient. Using visceral fat rating (VF) derived via bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) as reference standard, diagnostic accuracy tests for both protocols (using cut-offs of ≥90 cm in males and ≥80 cm in females) were done. Cardiometabolic parameters were also obtained, and binary logistic regression was performed to determine associations with WC Results: Among males, WC-WHO had 96% sensitivity (95% CI 88.8%-99.2%) and 25% specificity (95% CI 9.77%-46.7%) while WC-NIH had 94.7% sensitivity (95% CI 86.9%-98.5%) and 29.2% specificity (95% CI 12.6%-51.1%) to predict high VF >12. Among females, WC-WHO had 100% sensitivity (95% CI 90%-100%) and 24.1% specificity (95% CI 15.6%-34.5%) while WC-NIH had 100% sensitivity (95% CI 90%-100%) and 4.6% specificity (95% CI 1.3%-11.4%). Prevalence of high VF was significantly greater among males – 75.8% (95% CI 66.1%-83.8%) vs. 28.7% (95% CI 20.9%-37.6%) in females (p<0.001). Among females, WC-NIH tended to have higher measurements than WC-WHO by an average of 4.67 cm. Females with WC-WHO measurements of at least 80 cm were approximately four times more likely to have low (<50 mg/dL) HDL levels (cOR 3.82, p=<0.05), even after adjusting for age (aOR 3.83, p=<0.05). Conclusion WC measurement using the WHO and NIH protocols were both highly sensitive but had low specificity in predicting high VF estimated via BIA among overweight and obese adult Filipinos in this study. WC-NIH measurements tended to be higher among the females, which may affect classification of central obesity when using this protocol. WC ≥80 cm measured using the WHO protocol was associated with low HDL levels among female subjects. Prospective studies conducted among the general Filipino population are recommended to verify these findings.
Waist Circumference ; Obesity, Abdominal

Introduction: Hypertension is an emerging health concern among children owing to its increasing prevalence and association with obesity. However, hypertension screening is uncommon, and childhood hypertension-related data are limited. This cross-sectional study determined the prevalence and associated factors of hypertension among primary school children in Kuching, Sarawak. Methods: Standard procedures and validated equipment were used to measure blood pressure and anthropometric indicators. The body mass index (BMI)-for-age and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. Questionnaires were used to obtain family sociodemographic data and health history. Results: A total of 1,314 children aged 6–12 years were enrolled, of whom 107 (8.1%) and 178 (13.5%) were hypertensive and pre-hypertensive, respectively. The chi-squared test indicated that hypertension was significantly associated with male sex (P<0.05), ≥1 standard deviation BMI-for-age (P<0.001), percentage of excess body fat (BF)(P<0.001), 5th to 95th height percentile (P<0.001), >90th excess waist circumference (WC) percentile (P<0.001), >90th WHtR percentile (P<0.001), clerical, service, sales and skilled parental work (P<0.05), excess weight (P<0.05) and cardiovascular disease (P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the percentage of excess BF [odds ratio (OR): 4.84, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.01–11.66] and excess WC (OR: 2.33, 95% CI: 1.15–4.72) were significantly related to hypertension after adjusting for sex and age. Conclusion The prevalence of hypertension among the study population is higher than that among children worldwide. Childhood hypertension-related factors must be identified to aid in routine blood pressure screening, which is crucial for early detection and intervention to reduce future morbidity burden.
Hypertension ; Obesity ; Waist Circumference ; Child

Metabolic syndrome (MS) in children and adolescents has become a global public health problem. MS among Korean children and adolescents has been increasing significantly over the past decade. This paper aims to provide the currently available information on the MS in children and adolescents. This review focuses on the definition, diagnostic criteria, epidemiology and pathophysiology which may be helpful for the pediatrician in early identification and management of the MS in children and adolescents.
Adolescent ; Child ; Humans ; Public Health ; Waist Circumference

BACKGROUND: The evaluation of obesity in practice has been done indirectly by anthropometric values such as body mass index(BMI), waist and hip circumferences and waisthip ratio(WHR). Somatotype drawing developed by Srensen has been evaluated as a simple instrument of obesity without real somatic measuring in several studies. This study was attempted to evaluate correlation between somatotype drawing and anthropometric values. METHODS: The subjects were measured anthroprmetric values such as height, weight, hip and waist circumferences. After calculating BMI and WHR, we evaluated correlation between these values and somatotype drawing. And we tried to grouping of somatotype drawing with the means of anthropometric values. RESULTS: The data were collected from 224 subjects, whose BMI(kg/m2) and WHR were 22.81+/-2.96 and 0.84+/-0.07(mean+/-SD). Spearmans correlation coefficients(rs) of somatotype drawing were 0.77 with BMI, 0.62 with waist circumference, 0.61 with weight and hip circumference, 0.40 with WHR that remained statistically significant after adjusting age, sex, education level, monthly income and job. And, the grades of somatotype drawing were grouped as 1, 2, 3-4, 5-6, 7 by BMI and hip circumference, 1, 2-4, 5, 6, 7 by waist circumference(ANOVA and Duncans method). CONCLUSIONS: Somatotype drawing has a good correlations with BMI, weight, waist and hip circumference. But it is not applicable to assess WHR because of its relatively lower correlation.
Education ; Hip ; Obesity ; Somatotypes* ; Waist Circumference

BACKGROUND/AIMS: A number of studies have reported wide variability in the colonoscope insertion time among patients who had prior abdominal surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of abdominal surgery on colonoscope insertion time. METHODS: The subjects were 192 patients with prior abdominal surgery, among 3,600 patients who underwent a colonoscopy at Samsung Changwon Hospital from May 2008 to May 2010. We collected the following data: insertion time, age, gender, height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, method of abdominal surgery, and the degree of bowel cleanliness. Previous abdominal operations were divided into colectomy, non-colectomy abdominal surgery, pelvic surgery, and laparoscopic surgery groups. RESULTS: The average colonoscope insertion time in patients with prior abdominal surgery (7.73+/-5.95 min) was longer than that of the non-surgery group (6.4+/-3.88 min). Patients in the colectomy groups were older and had a shorter insertion time (5.11+/-3.32 min) than patients in the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Insertion of a colonoscope in patients with previous abdominal surgery was more difficult than that in the control group, except the colectomy group.
Colectomy ; Colonoscopes ; Colonoscopy ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Waist Circumference

No abstract available.
Body Mass Index ; Echocardiography ; Waist Circumference

No abstract available.
Body Mass Index ; Echocardiography ; Waist Circumference

Body Mass Index ; Humans ; Risk Assessment ; Waist Circumference

This article outlines the clinical values and limitations of body mass index and waist circumference for nutritional assessment among obese individuals and emphasizes the importance of combining these two parameters for diagnosis of obesity.
Body Mass Index ; Humans ; Nutrition Assessment ; Obesity ; diagnosis ; Waist Circumference

No abstract available.
Adult* ; Body Mass Index* ; Humans ; Risk Assessment* ; Waist Circumference*