Affiliations: Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Nippon
Medical School, Japan
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dr. Kawada T, Department of Hygiene
and Public Health, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo
113-8602, Japan. Tel.: +81 3 3822 2131; Fax: +81 3 5685 3065; E-mail:
kawada@nms.ac.jp
Abstract: Background: Although the prevalence of obesity in the Japanese adult
population is lower than that in the US adult population, there appears to be a
trend towards increase in the prevalence of obesity in Japanese men. In this
study, the usefulness of waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI)
determination as predictors of metabolic syndrome (MetS) was evaluated in
Japanese working men. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the spring of
2007. The sample included 3,486 working men aged 35 to 59 years. The standard
criteria of the International Diabetes Federation were used to determine the
prevalence of MetS. The results were adjusted for age, smoking, habitual
drinking and serum uric acid. To calculate the OR, MetS was tentatively defined
as the presence of two or more of the following criteria in the subjects: high
blood pressure, glucose intolerance, and dyslipidemia. Results: The prevalence of MetS was 17.0%, and it increased with age
until the mid-50s. The percentages of subjects with high blood pressure,
glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia and hyperuricemia were 57.3, 12.7, 29.4 and
21.3%, respectively. As compared to that in the subjects classified in the
lowest WC quintile, the ORs (95% confidence interval (CI)) for MetS of a WC in
the range of 76.0 to 81.4, 81.5 to 85.9, 86.0 to 90.9, and ⩾ 91 cm were
1.66 (1.13–2.45), 1.74 (1.13–2.67), 2.37 (1.50–3.74), and
2.84 (1.73–4.64), respectively. In contrast, the OR (95% CI) for MetS of
a BMI in the range of 24.5 to 26.5 and � 26.6 Kg/m^{2}
were 2.43 (1.58–3.73) and 3.27 (2.04–5.27), which just about
reached the significance level. Conclusions: The risk of MetS was correlated with the obesity
indices. However, BMI values in the high normal range were not significantly
associated with the risk of MetS.
Keywords: Waist circumference, body mass index, metabolic syndrome, lifestyle
