Waist Circumference as a Vital Sign in Cardiology 20 Years After Its Initial Publication in The American Journal of Cardiology

In 1994, we reported in The American Journal of Cardiology that a simple anthropometric measurement, waist circumference, was related to the amount of abdominal visceral adipose tissue measured by computed tomography. An elevated waist circumference was also found to be associated with several features of the cardiometabolic risk profile such as glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinemia, and an atherogenic dyslipidemic profile that included hypertriglyceridemia and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Although a linear relation was found between waist circumference and these metabolic alterations, we reported that a waist circumference value of about 100 cm was associated with a high probability of finding diabetogenic and atherogenic abnormalities. The present short report provides a brief update of issues that have been raised regarding the measurement of waist circumference and its clinical use over a period of 20 years since the original publication.