Obesity in Botswana : time for new cut-off points for abdominal girth?

Introduction: Country-specific cut-off points for defining central obesity in black Africans are long overdue.Methods: Anthropometric data from 215 (51.4%) male and 203 (48.6%) female patients seen in Gaborone between 2005 and 2015 were analysed to establish appropriate cut-off points for waist circumference (WC) corresponding to a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2. Relative risks for cardiometabolic disorders were calculated for different BMI and WC categories using MedCalc®. The subjects’ mean age was 50.0 ± 10.8 years and 80.6% were Batswana.Results: Only 7.2% of patients had a BMI were overweight and 65.5% were obese; mean BMI was 34.9 ± 6.5 kg/m2 in the women versus 31.0 ± 4.9 kg/m2 in the men (p cm in women emerged. Different weight and WC categories appeared not to confer increased relative risk of hypertension, dysglycaemia or dyslipidaemia.Conclusion: The proposed WC cut-off values, if validated, should set the pace for larger studies across sub-Saharan Africa.