Global Sport and Inclusivity Seminar Series

Global Sport and Inclusivity Seminar Series

BMI is dead; long live waist-circumference indices: But which waist-circumference index best predicts cardio-metabolic risk?

Date: Tuesday 17th May

Time: 17:30pm - 18:00pm

The event will take virtually on Zoom

As part of the contemporary discussion surrounding global sporting events such as the Winter Olympics in China and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the School of Sport at the University of Wolverhampton are holding a Seminar Series, which will be of particular interest to the public, educational institutions and business.

The Seminar Series will focus on the three key themes: Sport, Performance and Health; Community; Globalisation and Sustainability as linked to Inclusivity.

There is growing evidence that Body Mass Index (BMI) is unfit for purpose. Waist circumference (WC) indices appear to be the preferred alternative, although it is not clear which WC index is optimal at predicting cardio-metabolic risk (CMR) and associated health outcomes. Using a stratified random probability sample of 53,390 participants from the Health Survey for England (HSE), 2008-2018, four CMR factors were available; high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP).

The strength of association between the four cardio-metabolic risk factors and competing anthropometric indicators of weight status [BMI, Waist-to-height ratio (WHTR), unadjusted WC, and a new WC index independent of height, WHT∙5R=WC/height0.5] was assessed separately, using simple correlations and ANCOVAs, and together (combined) using MANCOVA, controlling for age, sex and ethnicity. Waist-circumference indices were superior to BMI when explaining/predicting our CMR factors, before and after controlling for age, sex and ethnicity. No single WC index was consistently superior. Results suggest that WHTR is the strongest predictor of HbA1c, confirming that shorter individuals are at great risk of diabetes. The most appropriate WC index associated with blood pressure was WHT∙5R for DBP, or unadjusted WC for SBP. Given HDL cholesterol is independent of height, the best predictor of HDL was WHT.5R. Clearly, “no one size fits all!”.