Cross-sectional relationship among different anthropometric parameters and cardio-metabolic risk factors in a cohort of patients with overweight or obesity.

BackgroundBody fat distribution influences the risk of cardio-metabolic disease in people with overweight. This study was aimed at identifying the anthropometric parameters more strongly associated with the majority of cardio-metabolic risk factors.MethodsThis study included 1214 subjects (840 women), with a body-mass-index (BMI) ≥ 25 Kg/m2, aged 39.2 ± 13 years. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides (TG), total, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, uric acid, vitamin D, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), white blood cells (WBC), platelets, insulin and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), smoking habit and snoring were evaluated as cardio-metabolic risk factors.We also included the Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) to estimate cardiovascular risk in our study population. BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height-ratio (WHtR) and neck circumference (NC) were evaluated as anthropometric parameters.ResultsAll four anthropometric parameters were positively associated to SBP, DBP, TG, FBG, insulin, HOMA-IR, WBC, and snoring (pConclusionsNC, combined with BMI and WC or WHtR could represent an essential tool for use in clinical practice to define the cardio-metabolic risk in individuals with excess body weight.