Changes in waist circumference and the prevalence of abdominal obesity during 1994-2008 - cross-sectional and longitudinal results from two surveys: the Tromsø Study.

Bjarne K Jacobsen,Nils Abel Aars

doi:10.1186/s40608-016-0121-5

Bjarne K Jacobsen, Nils Abel Aars

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40608-016-0121-5

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Journal: BMC obesity	Publication Date: Sep 21, 2016
Citations: 60	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Abstract

BackgroundAbdominal obesity increases all-cause mortality and is a risk factor for a number of diseases. There are few population-based studies of the longitudinal changes of abdominal obesity.MethodsBased on data from the Tromsø Study, we studied gender- and age-specific mean waist circumference and prevalence of abdominal overweight and abdominal obesity in two surveys in 1994–1995 (Tromsø 4, 6812 men and women aged 25 to 84) and 2007–2008 (Tromsø 6, 12,493 men and women aged 30 to 87). Furthermore, we describe the longitudinal changes of waist circumference and abdominal obesity during 13 years in 3144 subjects (aged 25–69 in 1994) who attended both surveys.ResultsCross-sectional analyses found a higher mean waist circumference in men than women and a direct relationship with age in both men and women in both Tromsø 4 and in Tromsø 6. As the WHO cut-off points for abdominal obesity are gender-specific, however, the prevalence of abdominal obesity was lower in men than in women. In 2007–2008, approximately 37 and 55 % of men and women, respectively, were classified as abdominally obese. Thirteen years before, in 1994–1995, the corresponding figures were 20 and 35 %. Longitudinal analyses of changes during the 13-year period clearly demonstrated that mean waist circumference increased in all examined birth cohorts in both men (mean change 6.1 cm) and women (mean change 8.4 cm), but increased more markedly the younger the subjects were. The prevalence of abdominal obesity in men aged 25–34 increased from 5 % in 1994 to 31 % 13 years later. The prevalence of abdominal obesity more than doubled among both men and women.ConclusionsThe increasing mean waist circumference is of concern. There is a need for further longitudinal studies of the changes in waist circumference.

Highlights

Abdominal obesity increases all-cause mortality and is a risk factor for a number of diseases
The mean waist circumference was consistently higher in men than in women, and the mean circumference and the prevalence of abdominal obesity increase with age in both men and women and in both surveys (p < 0.001)
A tendency toward a lower mean waist circumference in the oldest subjects, aged 85–89, in Tromsø 6. There were in both men and women statistically significant relationships between age group and the distribution of the respondents according to normal waist circumference, abdominal overweight and abdominal obesity; the tendency to being classified as overweight/ obesity was positively associated with increasing age

Summary

Introduction

Abdominal obesity increases all-cause mortality and is a risk factor for a number of diseases. Obesity and overweight is often assessed by the body mass index (BMI), but other measures, like waist circumference, may be or even more, informative with regard to the associated health risks. Abdominal obesity, measured as waist circumference, has been found to be a significant predictor of obesity related diseases [1, 2] and all-cause mortality [3,4,5]. Some studies indicate that the waist circumference may have increased more than the increase in body mass index can explain [6,7,8,9]. According to US data, the mean waist circumference still increases even if mean body mass index may not increase as much anymore [10]. Visscher et al have recently discussed the possible break in the obesity epidemic and concluded that this at least does not apply to waist circumference [11]

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