News - Hypertension Week of Jan. 4, 2004/ Vol. 3 No. 01

Study: Waist Size Better Indicator of High Blood Pressure Risk

Obesity is a risk factor for hypertension, but researchers have her this risk can be better estimated by body mass index or waist circumference.

Body mass index is a number that shows body weight adjusted for height.

Brazilian researchers now have found waist circumference to be a better indicator of this risk after studying 592 people with high blood pressure whose body mass and waist circumference qualified them as obese. Their study is reported in the January issue of the American Journal of Hypertension.

Specifically, the researchers defined obesity as a body mass index of at least 30 killigrams/meter for both males and females and a waist circumference of at least 102 centimeters for men and at least 88 centimeters for women.

Participants were considered to have hypertension if their blood pressure was equal to or greater than 140/90 mm Hg or if they were using high blood pressure medication.

After following the patients for up to six years, researchers found 127 cases of hypertension. They also found that men and women considered obese by virtue of their body mass index had an eight percent and 74 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure than their non-obese counterparts. The higher blood pressure risk for a waist circumference considered to indicate obesity was 78 and 72 percent for men and women, respectively,

On that basis, the researchers concluded that the risk for hypertension may be better identified by obesity defined by higher waist circumference than by higher body mass index.

Other sources: American Journal of Hypertension. 2004 Jan;17(1):50-53