Waist to sitting height ratio may be a new useful index for screening obesity and related health risk

Abstract

Waist circumference (WC) and related anthropometric indices, such as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), have been recognized as useful measures of abdominal obesity in epidemiological studies. However, a number of studies have documented that WC and WHR had their shortcomings and WHtR was proposed as a better screening tool for abdominal obesity and related health risk with a simple public health message ‘keep your waist circumference to less than half your height’ [ 1 Browning L.M. Hsieh S.D. Ashwell M. A systematic review of waist-to-height ratio as a screening tool for the prediction of cardiovascular disease and diabetes: 0·5 could be a suitable global boundary value. Nutr. Res. Rev. 2010; 23: 247-269 Crossref PubMed Scopus (795) Google Scholar , 2 Ashwell M. Gunn P. Gibson S. Waist-to-height ratio is a better screening tool than waist circumference and BMI for adult cardiometabolic risk factors: systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes. Rev. 2012; 13: 275-286 Crossref PubMed Scopus (1036) Google Scholar , 3 Ashwell M. Gibson S. A proposal for a primary screening tool: ‘keep your waist circumference to less than half your height’. BMC Med. 2014; 12: 207-213 Crossref PubMed Scopus (102) Google Scholar , 4 Garnett S.P. Baur L.A. Cowell C.T. Waist-to-height ratio: a simple option for determining excess central adiposity in young people. Int. J. Obes. 2008; 32: 1028-1030 Crossref PubMed Scopus (130) Google Scholar , 5 Zhou D. Yang M. Yuan Z.P. Zhang D.D. Liang L. Wang C.L. Zhang S. Zhu H.H. Lai M.D. Zhu Y.M. Waist-to-height ratio: a simple, effective and practical screening tool for childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome. Prev. Med. 2014; 67: 35-40 Crossref PubMed Scopus (49) Google Scholar ].