Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and optimal waist circumference cut-off points for adults in Beijing

Background: In the modified ATP III definition for metabolic syndrome (MS), the cut-off values for central obesity were set to > or =90 cm for male and > or =80 cm for women. Recently, a new Chinese definition for central obesity was set to > or =90 cm for male and > or =85 cm for women according to the corresponding BMI value of 25 kg/m(2).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the optimal WC cut-off points to reflect the cluster of multiple risk factors for adults in Beijing.

Method: The data collected during the surveillance of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in Beijing 2005 were used, with a total of 16,711 adults studied. Subjects with two or more components from the modified ATP III definition other than central obesity were considered to have multiple risk factors.

Results: The optimal WC cut-off points were 87 cm in men and 80 cm for women. When applied the WC advised definition for MS, the age-standardized prevalence was 38.0% for male and 32.3% for women, which is significantly higher than using the original one for men (34.7% vs 32.3%, P<0.001).

Conclusion: The present study indicated that optimal waist circumference cut-off points were lower than that proposed in the modified ATP III definition, especially for men.