Comparison of Waist Circumference Measured at Six Different Sites in the Adults in Ahvaz City

The measurement of waist circumference (WC) is a simple and cost-effective method for health risk assessment and obesity. Several sites for WC measurements are used. However, there is no previous study to investigate the differences in WC measured at various sites in our country, and there is no universally accepted method of WC measurement. The aim of this study was to compare measured six different sites of WC in adults.
Subjects and WC was measured at six conventional sites, as follows: the narrowest waist (WC1), below the lowest ribs (WC2), the midpoint between the lowest rib and the iliac crest (WC3), above the iliac crest (WC4), umbilicus (WC5), 1 cm above umbilicus (WC6) in 292 females and 223 males. Differences in WC across sites were tested using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni pairwise comparisons were computed to identify specific difference between paired sites.
The mean values of WCs were WC2 (80.9±10.1) 80/90 cm) in different WC sites, ranging from 16.6 to 28.7% in males and 43.5 to72.9% in females.
WC values at six sites showed significant difference in both sexes. The estimated abdominal obesity prevalence (>80/90 cm) ranged dramatically according to measurement site.