Detection of cardiovascular risk factors by indices of obesity obtained from anthropometry and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in Japanese individuals

OBJECTIVE: To determine the cut-off points of indices of obesity for detecting hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus in Japanese individuals. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: A total of 2728 Japanese individuals (768 males and 1960 females, aged 20-79 y) who attended the Fukuoka Health Promotion Center, Japan for health check-up. MEASUREMENTS: Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) were measured. Percentage fat mass (%FM), trunk fat mass (FMtrunk) and trunk fat mass-leg fat mass ratio (FMtrunk/FMlegs) were obtained by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Cardiovascular risk factors were determined by blood pressure, serum lipids, fasting blood glucose and hemoglobin A1C. RESULTS: The cut-off points of BMI, WC and WHR were around 23.5 kg/m2, 84 cm and 0.9 for males, and 22.5 kg/m2, 72 cm and 0.8 for females. The cut-off points of %FM, FMtrunk and FMtrunk/FMlegs were around 24%, 8 kg and 1.6 for males, and 35%, 9 kg and 1.4 for females. WHR and FMtrunk/FMlegs most accurately detected the risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: For Japanese individuals, the cut-off points for detecting cardiovascular risk factors are lower than the criteria by the World Health Organization. Indices of fat distribution detected the cardiovascular risk factors more accurately than those of overall adiposity. The accuracy of detecting the risk factors was comparable between the anthropometric indices and indices obtained by DXA.