Waist circumference of healthy men and women in the United States
2007
Flegal, K.M.
Objective: To describe the frequency distribution of waist circumference measurements in healthy men and women in the United States. Design: Cross-sectional national survey data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Measurements: Increasingly stringent definitions of health were applied, based on self-reported health, medical history, measurements of blood pressure, blood lipids, serum glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin. Main outcome measures, relative to health status levels, were selected percentiles of waist measurements and the prevalence of waist circumference above recommended levels. Results: Waist circumference was more normally distributed among the healthier men and women than in the full sample. The values of 102 cm for men and 88 cm for women, recommended as cutoff points by National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), corresponded fairly closely to the 95th percentile of waist circumference for healthy people, indicating that few healthy people will have values above these cutoffs. The lower action level values of 94 cm for men and 80 cm for women were more sensitive than the NHLBI cutoff values and correspondingly less specific. The overlap of waist circumference values between healthy and unhealthy people was considerable. Conclusions: Among healthy men and women, waist circumference is approximately normally distributed and covers a broad range of values.
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