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For men with spinal cord injuries, a waist size of 86.5 cm corresponds to a lower heart disease risk threshold (6 instead of 10), identifying more people at risk.
Quantitative
Using a waist size of 86.5 cm instead of standard cutoffs makes different doctors agree much more on who has metabolic syndrome in men with spinal cord injuries (Kappa 0.95 vs 0.47).
For men with spinal cord injuries, a waist size of 86.5 cm better detects belly fat (visceral adipose tissue) than the standard cutoff, identifying more true cases (84.6% vs 7.7%) while still correctly identifying most people without excess belly fat (91.3% vs 100%).
Using a waist size of 86.5 cm instead of 102 cm in men with spinal cord injuries better identifies who has obesity based on body fat percentage, catching more true cases (68.8% vs 6.3%) while still correctly identifying most non-obese people (90% vs 100%).
For men with spinal cord injuries, using a waist size of 86.5 cm instead of 102 cm identifies more people as obese (36% vs 3%), which is a big difference.
For some age and gender groups in the Pacific islands, the waist size cutoff for the skin condition acanthosis nigricans is lower than the standard cutoff recommended by the International Diabetes Federation.
In the study of young kids in the Pacific islands, two-thirds of the participants were Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders.
Descriptive
In a study of over 4,000 young kids in the Pacific islands, 15.8% of boys were obese (BMI above 95th percentile) compared to 10.8% of girls.
For girls 6-8 years old in the Pacific islands, using a waist size of 63.6 cm (80th percentile) correctly identifies about 55% of kids with the skin condition acanthosis nigricans and correctly rules it out for 83% of kids without it.
For boys 6-8 years old in the Pacific islands, measuring waist size had a high accuracy (AUC 0.86) for predicting the skin condition acanthosis nigricans, meaning it's a reliable screening tool.
Using different waist size cutoffs based on age and gender works better for spotting the skin condition acanthosis nigricans than using one cutoff for all kids in the Pacific islands.
Correlational
For girls 2-5 years old in the Pacific islands, a smaller waist size (53.3 cm at 62nd percentile) is used to predict the skin condition acanthosis nigricans compared to boys of the same age (58.3 cm at 90th percentile).
For boys aged 6-8 in the Pacific islands, the waist size that best predicts the skin condition acanthosis nigricans is smaller (63.6 cm) than the standard cutoff (71.6 cm) used by the International Diabetes Federation.
In a study of over 4,000 young kids in the Pacific islands, about 5 out of every 100 had a dark, velvety skin condition called acanthosis nigricans.
For young kids in the Pacific islands, measuring their waist size can help spot a skin condition called acanthosis nigricans. For boys 2-5 years old, a waist size of about 58 cm (90th percentile) correctly identifies about half of the kids with the skin condition and correctly rules it out for 91% of kids without it.
Almost 3 out of 10 middle-aged people have mismatched fat distribution: some have more internal fat but less under the skin, while others have the opposite, showing fat isn't always stored the same way.
As people get older, they tend to have more fat around their organs and less under the skin, making weight and waist measurements less reliable for detecting health risks in seniors.
People with less fat under the skin but more fat around organs have more metabolic problems than those with more subcutaneous fat but less visceral fat, even if they weigh less and have smaller waists.
Even people with a large waist size can have normal levels of internal fat: about 1 in 3 men and women in this study had this, showing waist size isn't always a perfect indicator of visceral fat.
Even among people classified as obese by BMI, about 1 in 4 men and 1 in 10 women don't have excess fat around their organs, showing BMI doesn't always reflect internal fat levels.
Even people with a normal waist size can have too much fat around their organs: about 1 in 4 men and 1 in 12 women in this study had this hidden fat, showing waist size alone isn't always reliable.
Among people with a normal weight (BMI under 30), about 1 in 10 men and 1 in 9 women have too much fat around their internal organs, showing that weight alone doesn't always reveal hidden health risks.
In a group of middle-aged people, about 3 out of 10 women and men have too much fat under the skin of the belly, while about 4 out of 10 have too much fat around their internal organs, based on CT scans.
More exercise during free time is linked to lower heart disease risk scores for two common assessment tools.