Relation between waist circumference or waist/height ratio and coronary risk factors in young women

[Objective] The present study aimed to examine whether waist circumference (WC) and waist/height ratio (WHtR) are useful indicators for determining visceral fat obesity in young women, and the relation of these indicators with coronary risk factors. [Subjects and Methods] 42 women aged 21-30 years who received medical checkup were studied. The subjects underwent blood sampling under fasting, body composition measurement, resting electrocardiography, pulse wave velocity measurement. The correlation between percent body fat and WC or WHtR was examined. The correlation between coronary risk factors and WC or WHtR was analyzed. [Results] A strong positive correlation was observed between percent body fat and WC [r = 0.77] and between percent body fat and WHtR (r = 0.75). Among the coronary risk factors examined, only HDL-cholesterol showed a strong negative correlation with WC (r = -0.49) and with WHtR (r = -0.45). [Conclusions] WC and WHtR are useful to determine obesity or visceral fat obesity even in young female adults. But WC and WHtR are limited in predicting the status of coronary risk factor in young female adults.