Objective: To describe the changes of waist circumference distribution and the prevalence of abdominal adiposity on Chinese adults aged 20-65, from 1993 to 2006.
Methods: This paper was based on the data collected in the China Health and Nutrition Survey in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006, and the subjects were men and women from 20 to 65 years old. Using the LMS method to construct the 15th, 50th, and 85th percentile waist circumference percentile curves. The recommended cut-off points for abdominal adiposity were 85 cm and above for males and 80 cm and above for females, suggested in the "Guidelines for Overweight and Obesity Prevention and Control for Chinese Adults" in defining abdominal adiposity.
Results: Compared with 1993, the 2006 waist circumference distribution curves flattened and expanded at higher levels in males and females. The waist circumference increased from 77.1 cm to 82.9 cm among males and from 75.8 cm to 78.9 cm among females. A gradient of increasing prevalence of abdominal obesity was also observed in both sexes. In males, the prevalence increased from 17.9% to 42.5% while in females, it increased from 28.8% to 46.9%. Similar trends of increasing waist circumference and abdominal obesity were observed in underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity. Subjects defined by body mass index (BMI) suggesting that primary prevention of abdominal obesity should be viewed as one of the major public health problems in China.
Conclusion: This study indicated that the rapid increase in waist circumference among Chinese adults from 1993 to 2006. A gradient of increasing prevalence of abdominal obesity was also observed in males and females. Unless measures are taken to slow the increase in the course of the abdominal adiposity epidemic, the burden of obesity associated morbidity and mortality in the Chinese can be expected to increase in future years.