The Relationship Between Anthropometric Measures And Visceral Adipose Tissue In Healthy Adults

BACKGROUND: Abdominal visceral obesity (VAT) is an established cardiovascular disease risk factor. Waist circumference (WC) is a reliable indicator of VAT and a better method than body mass index (BMI) and overall body fatness (%Fat). Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) is understudied and underutilized compared to other proxy methods and may have a stronger correlation to VAT than WC, BMI, and %Fat. PURPOSE: To compare the relationships between WHtR, WC, BMI, and %Fat versus VAT area (cm2) and identify the strongest correlation of VAT in a population of adults. We hypothesized that WHtR would have the strongest correlation to VAT. METHODS. Adults who volunteered completed an anthropometric and body composition evaluation. VAT and %Fat was estimated from DXA, the gold standard for body composition assessment. Height, weight, and WC were assessed using standardized methods and used to calculate WHtR, WC, and BMI. STATISTICS: SPSS 29. Pearson correlations between variables and VAT. Fisher's r to z transformation determined if statistically significant differences existed between r-values. Significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: 51 subjects, 62% females, 56% Caucasian, mean age 29.9 yrs. All correlations between VAT and measures of obesity were statistically significant. However, WHtR was not statistically superior to WC or BMI. There were statistically significantly stronger correlations in the combined genders group and in females for WHtR, WC and BMI vs %Fat*. CONCLUSION: WHtR had a statistically similar correlation as WC and BMI to VAT - thus rejecting the hypothesis that WHtR is superior. The simple and practical measures of WtHR, WC or BMI may be appropriate proxy measures of VAT in a healthy young adult population. - Pearson Correlations WHtR WC BMI %Fat Both Genders VAT 0.912 0.897 0.880 0.580* Males Only VAT 0.959 0.956 0.844 0.884 Females Only VAT 0.882 0.881 0.911 0.742* Supported by: Valdosta State University Faculty Research Grant