Waist Girth Does Not Predict Metabolic Complications in Severely Obese Men
- Isabelle Lemieux, PHD1,
- Vicky Drapeau, PHD12,
- Denis Richard, PHD13,
- Jean Bergeron, MD, MSC4,
- Picard Marceau, MD5,
- Simon Biron, MD5 and
- Pascale Mauriège, PHD12
- 1Laval Hospital Research Center, Laval University, Québec, Canada
- 2Division of Kinesiology, Social and Preventive Medicine, Laval University, Québec, Canada
- 3Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Laval University, Québec, Canada
- 4Lipid Research Center, CHUL Research Center, Laval University, Québec, Canada
- 5Department of Surgery, Laval Hospital, Laval University, Québec, Canada
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Pascale Mauriège, PhD, Division of Kinesiology, PEPS, Room 2148, Laval University, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4. E-mail: pascale.mauriege{at}kin.msp.ulaval.ca
The epidemic of obesity has received considerable attention because of its increasing prevalence and its deleterious impact on health (1–6). In this regard, the metabolic syndrome has been recognized as a prevalent cause of cardiovascular disease, and the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines (7) have proposed clinical tools for the identification of individuals characterized by this syndrome. However, there is considerable metabolic heterogeneity among equally overweight/obese individuals. While some patients show a relatively “normal” metabolic risk profile despite being obese, others who are moderately overweight can nevertheless be characterized by metabolic complications (8,9).
Thus, it is not uncommon to find severely obese patients with minimal changes in their metabolic risk profile, suggesting that they may be at lower cardiovascular disease risk than what could be expected from their massive obesity. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between selected features of the metabolic syndrome and waist circumference as a crude marker of abdominal obesity in moderately and severely obese men.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Informed written consent was obtained from all patients, and studies were conducted according to the Helsinki Declaration. The reference group consisted of moderately obese men (n = 97) of …
