Approved Research

The clinical application of Waist-to-Height Ratio as a diagnostic indicator for obesity and comparation of obesity prevalence in eastern and western adult population

Lay summary

Aims: We aim to compare the prevalence of obesity in the eastern and western adult population defined by using three diagnostic indicators for Adiposity-based Chronic Disease (ABCD), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR), respectively, and to identify the most accurate indicator to predict the ABCD-related chronic non-communicable diseases in adults.

  Scientific Rationale: We will use the three indicators, BMI, WC and WHtR, to calculate the obesity prevalence and compare the significance of diagnostic rate of ABCD in eastern and western adult population. Then we will compare which one matches better with the predicting for real situation of ABCD-related chronic diseases by using Chi-square test and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve to get more evidence to promote the application of WHtR as a universal and rational ABCD screening tool.

  Project Duration: This project will spend about one year to complete.

  Public Health Impact: By determining the most suitable obesity diagnostic indicator we could recognize ABCD earlier with higher accuracy, thus providing us an opportunity to intervene and manage chronic non-communicable diseases in advance to reduce the healthy and economic burden for public health system worldwide.