Different waist circumferences, different metabolic risks in Koreans.

OBJECTIVE We investigated the difference in metabolic parameters by waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) in a population of Korean men and women. METHOD We collected data on 69,535 Korean men and women and performed a cross-sectional analysis of the data. Study subjects were grouped by BMI and WC. We measured metabolic parameters for each group and compared the differences in the metabolic abnormalities. Subjects were grouped as follows: normal group (NG; normal WC and normal BMI); centrally obese group (COG; high WC and normal BMI); generally obese group (GOG; normal WC and high BMI); and combined obese group (COM; high WC and high BMI). RESULTS Subjects in the COM group showed more metabolic parameter abnormalities in comparison to the other groups. In men, triglyceride (TG) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels were higher in the COG than in the GOG. Correspondingly, total cholesterol (TC), TG, and FBG levels were higher in the female COG than in the female GOG. In addition, the mean numbers of abnormal metabolic parameters in the COG were higher than in the GOG for both men and women. More men and women developed metabolic syndrome in the COG (39.1% in men, 33.0% in women) than in the GOG (9.7% in men, 7.8% in women). CONCLUSION Among Koreans, the COG had more metabolic abnormalities and metabolic syndrome than the GOG.