Central European Journal of Medicine Association between anthropometric indexes and cardiovascular risk factors * E-mail: dalia.luksiene@med.kmu.lt Received 28 February 2011; Accepted 27 April 2011 Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the associations of the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) with ischemic heart disease (IHD) and risk factors of IHD in the Lithuanian population aged 25 to 70 years. The cross- sectional health survey was carried out in Kaunas, which is the second largest city in Lithuania, and in fve regions randomly selected from the northern, southern, eastern, western and central parts of Lithuania. Data from 2048 subjects (936 men and 1112 women) were analyzed. In both sexes, the odds ratios for reduced high density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, high fasting blood glucose, and hypertension rose with an increasing quartile of BMI, WC, and WHtR. The likelihood of having IHD was statistically sig- nifcantly higher in the fourth quartile of these anthropometric measures when compared to the frst one. Comparison of the logistic regression models revealed that the models with WHtR best ft the prediction of IHD risk. Compared with BMI and WC, WHtR showed a stronger association with IHD and its risk factors in the Lithuanian adult population. © Versita Sp. z o.o. Keywords: Body mass index • Waist circumference • Waist-to-height ratio • Ischemic heart disease • Risk factors 1 Institute of Cardiology, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT-50009 Kaunas, Lithuania 2 Public Health Faculty, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT-50009 Kaunas, Lithuania Dalia Ieva Luksiene 1* , Janina Petkeviciene 2 , Kristina Jureniene 1 , Jurate Klumbiene 2 , Alina Smalinskiene 1 , Abdonas Tamosiunas 1 Research Article 1. Introduction Obesity is one of the most important public health problems in both developed and developing countries [1]. The prevalence of obesity has signifcantly increased among the world populations during the past 30 years [2,3]. Lithuania is no exception. According to the data from Lithuanian Health Behaviour Monitoring, the prevalence of obesity has risen steadily, especially in men (from 11% in 1994 to 17% in 2008), and every ffth Lithuanian woman is obese [4]. Obesity is a major risk factor for hypertension and dyslipidemia, which are, in turn, risk factors for the development of ischemic heart disease (IHD) [5-7]. The mortality rate from IHD in Lithuania is considerably higher than in the most European countries [8]. Preventive actions aimed at the reduction of IHD risk factors including obesity are the most effective way to decrease the prevalence of IHD and improve the health status of populations [9]. In recent years, discussion has increased about which measure of overweight and obesity is the best indicator to identify those individuals who are at high cardiovascular risk [7,10-12]. The most popular measures are height and weight, expressed preferably as the body mass index (BMI). This measure is used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to defne severity of overweight and obesity across populations. Epidemiologic studies have revealed that accumulation of abdominal fat is also an important predictor of risk for cardiovascular disease [13,14]. The measurement of the waist circumference (WC) is used mostly for defning central obesity, but this measurement has been criticized for not taking into account differences in body height [15]. Recent studies have found that waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) may be used as marker of body fat centralization, which could be a effcient predictor of cardiovascular risk [10-15]. Some investigators have shown that the strength of Cent. Eur. J. Med. • 6(4) • 2011 • 411-417 DOI: 10.2478/s11536-011-0045-x 411 Unauthenticated Download Date | 7/25/18 11:17 PM