Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference, and Health Risk

No evidence supports the waist circumference (WC) cutoff points recommended by the National Institutes of Health to identify subjects at increased health risk within the various body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) categories.

To examine whether the prevalence of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and the metabolic syndrome is greater in individuals with high compared with normal WC values within the same BMI category.