The link between BMI and waist circumference in northern Iranian adults

Abstract

Waist circumference and not body mass index explains a greater variance in obesity-related health risk. The present study assesses the link between BMI and WC in Iranian adults. In a population based cross-sectional study on 3600 adults, northern Iran, we investigated the link between WC and BMI using linear regression model. The Pearson correlation coefficient between WC and BMI were R = 0.61 (p < 0.001) for male and R = 0.75 (p < 0.001) for female. The fitted models were: WC(cm) = 44.45 +/- 1.79 BMI, (R2 = 0.37, p < 0.001) and WC(cm) = 36.85 +/- 1.89 BMI (R2 = 0.57, p < 0.001) respectively. After adjusting of age, gender and marital status, the association of BMI on WC is persisted. The overall discrimination ability of BMI for abdominal obesity as estimated by AUC was 0.865 (95% CI: 0.851-0.879, p < 0.001). The present linear link between BMI and WC measurements would help to estimate WC and its upper and lower confidence bond from height and weight.