Associations of General and Abdominal Obesity With Multiple Health Outcomes in Older Women

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Abstract
EXCESS WEIGHT, often measured as increased body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) or increased weight for height, has long been considered a risk factor for many chronic diseases. In the past 2 decades, visceral or abdominal obesity, as reflected anthropometrically by an increased waist circumference or waist-hip ratio, has also emerged as an important predictor of risk of obesity-related diseases. However, as discussed in a recent review,1 it is unclear which measure of abdominal obesity best characterizes risk. Recent guidelines addressing obesity2 recommended waist circumference over waist-hip ratio, as waist circumference is simpler to measure and interpret and correlates well with visceral fat measured by computed tomography.1 Yet, waist circumference also is highly correlated with BMI and thus reflects general, and abdominal, obesity.

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