According to a report in the Journal of Pediatrics, waist circumference in children and adolescents predicts insulin resistance, a risk factor for diabetes.
Dr. Silva A. Arslanian from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh says, "Abdominal obesity is a health risk even though the BMI may not be very high."
"Physicians should be aware of this and discuss it with their patients and educate them."
According to Reuters, Arslanian and colleagues investigated how well waist circumference reflects total fat, superficial abdominal fat (subcutaneous fat) and fat surrounding internal organs (visceral fat) in youths, and whether waist circumference alone predicts insulin resistance.
