Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the critical value for the standard deviation score (SDS) of waist–hip ratio (WHR)/height (Ht), as an age‐adjusted measure of body fat distribution, in relation to occurrence of biochemical complications in obese girls.
DESIGN: Cross‐sectional, clinical study. The (WHR/Ht)‐SDS was calculated as described previously. Obese girls were classified into two groups according to the occurrence of abnormal values in either serum triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase or insulin level. The criteria for obesity were subjected to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
SUBJECTS: One‐hundred and twenty‐four outpatient Japanese obese girls, ranging in age from 9 to 15 y.
MEASUREMENTS: Height, body weight, waist girth and hip girth as anthropometric measures. Percentage overweight, waist girth, WHR and (WHR/Ht)‐SDS as criteria for obesity. Clinical laboratory analysis for fasting blood samples of obese children.
RESULTS: Fifty‐nine girls were classified into the no complication group, and 65 girls into the complication group. Those with complications were older, more obese, and their waist girth and WHR were larger, than the girls without complications. The (WHR/Ht)‐SDS was >2‐fold higher and lipoprotein profile was more atherogenic in the complication group than in the no complication group. Among the four criteria of obesity, (WHR/Ht)‐SDS gave the ROC curve skewed furthest into the top left corner of the diagram. Both sensitivity and specificity for (WHR/Ht)‐SDS were >80% at the critical value of 2.00. The sensitivity for waist girth was as high as that for specificity for the rest of the criteria were <80%.
CONCLUSION: Only (WHR/Ht)‐SDS showed high enough sensitivity and specificity to predict metabolic derangement in the present obese girls. (WHR/Ht)‐SDS can serve as the diagnostic criterion that classifies obesity in Japanese adolescent girls into two types.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asayama K, Hayashibe H, Dobashi K, Uchida N, Kawada Y, Nakazawa S . Relationships between biochemical abnormalities and anthropometric indices of overweight, adiposity and body fat distribution in Japanese elementary school children Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1995 19: 253–259.
Krotkiewski M, Börntorp P, Sjöström L, Smith U . Impact of obesity on metabolism in men and women: importance of regional adipose tissue distribution J Clin Invest 1983 72: 1150–1162.
Fujioka S, Matsuzawa Y, Tokunaga K, Tarui S . Contribution of intra‐abdominal fat accumulation to the impairment of glucose and lipid metabolism in human obesity Metabolism 1987 36: 54–59.
Pedersen SB, Børglum JD, Schmitz O, Bak JF, Sørensen NS, Richelsen B . Abdominal obesity is associated with insulin resistance and reduced glycogen synthase activity in skeletal muscle Metabolism 1993 42: 998–1005.
Lemieux S, Prud'homme D, Tremblay A, Bouchard C, Despres JP . Anthropometric correlates to changes in visceral adipose tissue over 7 years in women Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1996 20: 618–624.
Lemieux S, Prud'homme D, Bouchard C, Tremblay A, Despres JP . A single threshold value of waist girth identifies normal‐weight and overweight subjects with excess visceral adipose tissue Am J Clin Nutr 1996 64: 685–693.
Ross R, Rissanen J, Hudson R . Sensitivity associated with the identification of visceral adipose tissue levels using waist circumference in men and women: effects of weight loss Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1996 20: 533–538.
Conway JM, Chanetsa FF, Wang P . Intraabdominal adipose tissue and anthropometric surrogates in African American women with upper‐ and lower‐body obesity Am J Clin Nutr 1997 66: 1345–1351.
van der Kooy K, Leenen R, Seidell JC, Deurenberg P, Visser M . Abdominal diameter as indicators of visceral fat: comparison between magnetic resonance imaging and anthropometry Br J Nutr 1993 70: 47–58.
Zamboni M, Turcato E, Armellini F, Kahn HS, Zivelonghi A, Santana H, Bergamo‐Andreis IA, Bosello O . Sagittal abdominal diameter as a practical predictor of visceral fat Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 655–660.
Rissanen P, Hamalainen P, Vanninen E, Tenhunen‐Eskelinen M, Uusitupa M . Relationship of metabolic variables to abdominal adiposity measured by different anthropometric measurements and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry in obese middle‐aged women Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1997 21: 367–371.
Barnes VA, Treiber FA, Davis H, Kelly TR, Strong WB . Central adiposity and hemodynamic functioning at rest and during stress in adolescents Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 1079–1083.
Megnien JL, Denarie N, Cocaul M, Simon A, Levenson J . Predictive value of waist‐to‐hip ratio on cardiovascular risk events Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999 23: 90–97.
Martinez E, Devesa M, Bacallo J, Amador M . Percentiles of waist–hip ratio in Cuban scholars aged 4.5 to 20.5 years Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1994 18: 557–560.
Asayama K, Hayashi K, Kawada Y, Nakane T, Uchida N, Hayashibe H, Kawasaki K, Nakazawa S . New age‐adjusted measure of body fat distribution in children and adolescents: standardization of waist hip ratio using multivariate analysis Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1997 21: 594–599.
Asayama K, Hayashi K, Hayashibe H, Uchida N, Nakane T, Kodera K, Nakazawa S . Relationships between an index of body fat distribution based on waist and hip circumferences and stature and biochemical complications in obese children Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 1209–1216.
Krotkiewski M, Börntorp P, Sjöström L, Smith U . Impact of obesity on metabolism in men and women: importance of regional adipose tissue distribution J Clin Invest 1983 72: 1150–1162.
Margolis CF, Sprecher DL, Simbartl LA, Campaigne BN . Male–female differences in the relationship between obesity and lipids/lipoproteins Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1996 20: 784–790.
Deutsch MI, Mueller WH, Malina RM . Androgyny in fat patterning is associated with obesity in adolescents and young adults Ann Hum Biol 1985 12: 275–286.
Wattigney WA, Harsha DW, Srinivasan SR, Webber LS, Berenson GS . Increasing impact of obesity on serum lipids and lipoproteins in young adults: The Bogalusa Heart Study Arch Intern Med 1991 151: 2017–2022.
Friedwald WT, Levy RI, Redrickson DS . Estimation of the concentration of low density lipoprotein cholesterol without use of the preparative ultracentrifuge Clin Chem 1972 18: 499.
Hayashibe H, Asayama K, Nakane T, Uchida N, Kawada Y, Nakazawa S . Increased plasma cholesteryl ester transfer activity in obese children Atherosclerosis 1997 129: 53–58.
Matsuura F, Yamashita S, Nakamura T, Nishida M, Nozaki S, Runahashi T, Matsuzawa Y . Effect of visceral fat accumulation on uric acid metabolism in male obese subjects Metabolism 1998 47: 929–933.
Hashimoto M, Akishita M, Eto M, Kozaki K, Ako J, Sugimoto N, Yoshizumi M, Toba K, Ouchi Y . The impairment of flow‐mediated vasodilatation in obese men with visceral fat accumulation Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 477–484.
Goran MI, Nagy TR, Treuth MS, Trowbridge C, Dezenberg C, McGloin A, Gower BA . Visceral fat in White and African American prepubertal children Am J Clin Nutr 1997 65: 1703–1708.
Owens S, Gutin B, Ferguson M, Allison J, Karp W, Le NA . Visceral adipose tissue and cardiovascular risk factors in obese children J Pediatr 1988 133: 41–45.
Schoen RE, Thaete FL, Sankey SS, Weissfeld JL, Kuller LH . Sagittal diameter in comparison with single slice CT as a predictor of total visceral adipose tissue volume Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 338–342.
Goran MI, Gower BA, Treuth M, Nagy TR . Prediction of intra‐abdominal and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue in healthy prepubertal children Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 549–558.
Owens S, Litaker M, Allison J, Riggs S, Ferguson M, Gutin B . Prediction of visceral adipose tissue from simple anthropometric measurements in youths with obesity Obes Res 1999 7: 16–22.
Weidner MD, Gavigan KE, Tyndall GL, Hickey MS, McCammon MR, Houmard JA . Which anthropometric indices of regional adiposity are related to the insulin resistance of aging? Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1995 19: 325–330.
Ross R, Fortier L, Hudson R . Separate associations between visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue distribution, insulin and glucose levels in obese women Diabetes Care 1996 19: 1404–1411.
Vanhala MJ, Pitkajarvi TK, Kumpusalo EA, Takala JK . Obesity type and clustering of insulin resistance‐associated cardiovascular risk factors in middle‐aged men and women Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 369–374.
Armellini F, Robbi R, Zamboni M, Tedesco T, Castelli S, Bosello O . Resting metabolic rate, body fat distribution, and visceral fat in obese women Am J Clin Nutr 1992 56: 981–987.
Macor C, Ruggeri A, Mazzonetto P, Federspil G, Cobelli C, Vettor R . Visceral adipose tissue impairs insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity but not energy expenditure in obesity Metabolism 1997 46: 123–129.
Clasey JL, Bouchard C, Teates D, Riblett JE, Thorner MO, Hartman ML, Weltman A . The use of anthropometric and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) measures to estimate total abdominal and abdominal visceral fat in men and women Obes Res 1999 7: 256–264.
Han TS, Seidell JC, Currall JEP, Morrison CE, Deurenberg P, Lean MEJ . The influences of height and age on waist circumference as an index of adiposity in adults Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1997 21: 83–89.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported in part by Health Science Research Grants (Research on Children and Families) from Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japan, and a grant from the Tanita Health and Body Weight Fund.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Asayama, K., Oguni, T., Hayashi, K. et al. Critical value for the index of body fat distribution based on waist and hip circumferences and stature in obese girls. Int J Obes 24, 1026–1031 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801355
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801355
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Waist circumference percentiles for Portuguese children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years
European Journal of Pediatrics (2012)
-
Association between stunting and overweight among 10–15-y-old children in the North West Province of South Africa: the THUSA BANA Study
International Journal of Obesity (2004)
-
Comparison of anthropometric parameters as predictors of serum lipids in premenopausal women
Journal of Endocrinological Investigation (2004)
-
Increased Serum Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein in Obese Children
Obesity Research (2002)