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Is the association of type II diabetes with waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio stronger than that with body mass index?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 30–34 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

In total, 17 prospective and 35 cross-sectional studies in adults aged 18–74 years, with the aim of comparing betweenbody mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in their relation to the incidence and prevalence of type II diabetes, were reviewed. Among these studies, only a few have used C-statistic, paired homogeneity test or log-likelihood ratio test for formally comparing the differences. Five prospective studies, in which formal statistic tests have been made, came out with inconsistent findings: two results were in favour of WC in Mexicans African Americanss, respectively, one result was in favour of BMI in Pima Indians, and no difference was found in the other 2 studies. Among the 11 cross-sectional studies that have formally tested the differences, most found a higher odds ratio or slightly larger area under the ROC curve (AUC) for WC than for BMI. A meta-analysis based on the individual data of the Asian cohorts using a paired homogeneity test showed, however, that there was no difference in odds ratio between BMI and WC in Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Mongolian and Filipino men. In conclusion, all studies included in this review showed that either BMI or WC (WHR) predicted or was associated with type II diabetes independently, regardless of the controversial findings on which of these obesity indicators is better.

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Acknowledgements

The earlier version of this paper was prepared as a background paper for the WHO Expert Consultation on waist circumference and waist–hip ratio (Geneva, 8–11 December 2008). We owe our sincere thanks to all experts who gave comments to improve the paper. This work has been financially supported by the Academy Finland (118492).

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  1. Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Q Qiao & R Nyamdorj

  2. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    Q Qiao & R Nyamdorj

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  1. Q Qiao
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Correspondence to Q Qiao.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition website (http://www.nature.com/ejcn)

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Qiao, Q., Nyamdorj, R. Is the association of type II diabetes with waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio stronger than that with body mass index?. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 30–34 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.93

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