Ability of Anthropometric Measurements to Predict Metabolic Health among Patients in Alberta: A Cross-sectional Study in Primary Care

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
  • Purpose: This study compared anthropometric and body fat percent (BF%) equations in relation to measures of metabolic health.

    Methods: BF% calculations (Bergman, Fels, and Woolcott) and anthropometric measurements were used to determine obesity among a sample of patients attending primary care in Alberta, Canada. Anthropometric variables included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist:hip ratio, waist:height ratio, and calculated BF%. Metabolic Z-score was computed as the average of the individual Z-scores of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and fasting glucose and the number of standard deviations from the sample mean.

    Results: Five hundred and fourteen individuals were included (41.2% male, age: 53 ± 16y, BMI: 27.4 ± 5.7 kg/m2). BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 detected the smallest number of participants (n = 137) as having obesity, while Woolcott BF% equation categorized the largest number of participants as having obesity (n = 369). No anthropometric or BF% calculation predicted metabolic Z-score in males (all p ≥ 0.05). In females, age-adjusted waist:height ratio had the highest prediction power (R2 = 0.204, p < 0.001), followed by age-adjusted waist circumference (R2 = 0.200, p < 0.001) and age-adjusted BMI (R2 = 0.178, p < 0.001).

    Conclusions: This study did not find evidence that BF% equations more strongly predicted metabolic Z-scores than other anthropometric values. In fact, all anthropometric and BF% variables were weakly related to metabolic health parameters, with apparent sex differences.

  • Date created
    2023-03-08
  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Type of Item
    Article (Published)
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-4z3a-vb40
  • License
    Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
  • Language
  • Citation for previous publication
    • Ghosh, S., Purcell, S. A., Martin, K., Lima, I., & Prado, C. M. (2023). Ability of Anthropometric Measurements to Predict Metabolic Health among Patients in Alberta: A Cross-sectional Study in Primary Care. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 84(3), 167–170. https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2022-039
  • Link to related item
    https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2022-039