Charts Based on Body Mass Index and Waist-to-Height Ratio to Assess the Health Risks of Obesity: A Review

نویسنده

  • Margaret Ashwell
چکیده

This review focuses on the rationale behind the charts that have been used as public health tools to assess the health risks of obesity, with special emphasis on where the boundary values are placed. A chart based on body mass index (BMI) was introduced in the 1980s to replace Tables of best weights for heights and this BMI chart (based on adult weight for height) is still very much in use today. Although the importance of the distribution of body fat, as opposed to the total amount of body fat, in determining health risks of obesity was first suggested in the 1940s, it was not until the mid 1990s that a chart based on Shape was suggested. The Ashwell Shape Chart was based on the use of waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) as a proxy for abdominal obesity. The chart contains three boundary values for WHtR: 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6; originally set on pragmatic decisions. Substantial evidence from a recent systematic review now supports the global boundary value WHtR of 0.5 for Consider Action. WHtR of 0.6 has been proposed for Take Action. An exciting prospect is that the same Shape Chart might be used to assess risk for adults and children in several ethnic groups. Use of the Shape Chart could also improve the efficiency for screening for cardiometabolic risk and could provide substantial cost savings in terms of obesity treatment. The public health message could not be simpler: "Keep your waist circumference to less than half your height".

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Associations between Dietary Diversity Scores and Obesity Phenotypes in Women

Background and Objectives: Dietary diversity is a proxy measurement of overall dietary quality. The aim of this study was to assess relationships between dietary diversity score and obesity phenotypes in women, Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 197 women aged ≥ 25 years from Municipal District 7 of Tehran were participated. Food intakes were calculated using s...

متن کامل

Anthropometric Characteristics of Rafsanjan Primary Schoolchildren based on Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference in 2008

Background Aims: Anthropometric indices are among common tools used in assessing nutritional status in children. This study was done to determine anthropometric indices of Rafsanjan schoolchildren by using Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference and height. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1275 primary schoolchildren were selected using two stage random sampling method. Demographic quest...

متن کامل

Pattern of fat distribution (waist to hip ratio) and body mass index in high school adolescents in Ilam

Background. Adolescence is a critical period of growth and different variables can effect on this process in this age period. The relationship between obesity in adolescence and some metabolic disorders in the future has been reported by many studies. This study was carried out to determine the pattern of fat distribution among high school adolescents in Ilam city in 2013. Method. In this cross...

متن کامل

Association between obesity types and anthropometric indices with rheumatoid arthritis disease

Background: Obesity is one of the causes of onset and exacerbation of rheumatoid arthritis. However, limited studies have examined the association between body composition and severity of disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between severity of rheumatoid arthritis with various types of obesity and the comparison of anthropometric indices between patients with rheumato...

متن کامل

Body Mass Index, Waist-to-Height Ratio, Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Diseases in a New Obesity Classification Proposal

In this mini-hot topic issue, methods of body composition analysis are reviewed, a new shape chart based on waist-to-height ratio is presented and a new obesity classification system is proposed. Anthropometric indices are surrogate measures of body fat and are cost-free, practical and easy to interpret for health care providers and lay people. The answer to the question of “the best anthropome...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره   شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2011