Optimal cut points of waist circumference for the clinical diagnosis of metabolic syndrome in the Japanese population.

I n 2005, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the Japanese Committee for the Diagnostic Criteria of Metabolic Syndrome (Japanese definition) proposed metabolic syndrome definitions for the Japanese population (1,2). Both definitions included waist circumference as an essential component and adopted cut points of 85 cm for men and 90 cm for women based on the relationship between waist circumference and visceral fat area by computed tomography (3). However, those cut points have been in dispute because of their suboptimal sensitivity and specificity (4 – 6). Recently, the IDF proposed common cut points for the whole Asian population including the Japanese: 90 cm for men and 80 cm for women (7). In this study, we investigated optimal waist cut points to identify subjects with multiple risk factors in the Japanese population and verified the cut points to predict carotid intimamedia thickening in metabolic syndrome subjects as a surrogate marker of early atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (8–10).