Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and triglyceride to HDL-C ratio (TG/HDL-c) as predictors of cardiometabolic risk

Abstract

Introduction: The excessive concentration of fat in the abdominal region is related to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Studies have been performed to identify simple and effective indicators of abdominal obesity and associated cardiometabolic risk through the use of simple parameters such as anthropometric and biochemical measures. The Triglyceride / High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (TG/HDL-c) has been proposed as a more practical and easy to use atherogenic marker, along with the Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR), which makes a superior tool for separating cardiometabolic risk related to overweight/obesity when comparing to Body Mass Index (BMI).

Objective: To verify the applicability of the WHtR and the TG/HDL-c ratio as predictors of cardiometabolic risk.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed at the Department of Nutrition of the UNIVATES University Center, where the participant's anthropometric and biochemical data were collected. Statistical analysis was performed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS) 20.0, with a significance level of 5% (p < 0.05).

Results: A total of 498 individuals took part on this research, 77.5% female and with a mean age of 25.5 ± 6.5. A high percentage of fat was found in both men and women (19.9 ± 5.80% and 29.24 ± 5.43%, respectively). The prevalence of overweight/obesity (BMI ≥ 25Kg/m(2)) was 35.05%. The WHtR marker was significantly correlated to Low-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-c), Triglyceride (TG) and Anthropometric BMI values, waist circumference (WC) and body fat percentage (BF%). For the TG/HDL-c ratio, there was a positive and significant correlation to the same markers, beyond TC. There was also a correlation between WHtR and TG/HDL-c, and both presented a negative and significant correlation with HDL-c.

Conclusion: WHtR and TG/HDL-c values were found to be good markers for the cardiometabolic risk ratio in the studied sample. Several studies, original articles and academic reviews confirm the use of the WHtR or TG/HDL-c markers for that purpose in adults.