Waist circumference is a strong indicator of the risk of insulin resistance, an early stage in the development of diabetes mellitus and heart disease.

Waist circumference is already recognised as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Current guidelines suggest a cut-off of 102 cm in men and 88 cm in women.

Swedish investigators assessed how effectively different anthropometric measurements and biochemical markers used in clinical practice can predict insulin sensitivity.
No easy clinical test exists for predicting the insulin resistance of an individual.

Investigators analysed retrospectively data on 2746 healthy volunteers ( 798 male ), aged between 18-72 years, body mass index ( kg/m2 ) from 18 to 60, and waist circumferences from 65 cm to 150 cm.

A waist circumference of < 100 cm excludes individuals of both sexes from being at risk of being insulin resistant.

Waist circumference is a strong independent risk factor for insulin resistance.
It replaces body mass index, waist:hip ratio, and other measures of total body fat as a predictor of insulin resistance and explains more than 50% of the variation in insulin sensitivity alone.

The combination of insulin resistance, compensatory hyperinsulinaemia, and abdominal obesity predisposes individuals to generate cortisol and promoting a cushingoid fat distribution by activating 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in omental adipose tissue.

Waist circumference is a simple tool to exclude insulin resistance and to identify the patients at greatest risk
High-risk patients would benefit most from lifestyle changes.

Source: British Medical Journal, 2005


XagenaMedicine2005