Association of a body shape index and hip index with cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-V study

Objective This study designed to discover the link between a body shape index (ABSI) and hip index (HI) with cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) in Iranian children and adolescents. Subjects and methods In a nationwide cross-sectional survey, 4200 students who were 7-18 years old were chosen via a multistage cluster sampling method in 30 provinces of Iran in 2015. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was defined in line with the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. ABSI and HI were defined as waist circumference (m)/ [body mass index (2/3) * height (m)(1/2)] and hip circumference (cm) *(height/ 166 cm)(0.310) *(weight / 73 kg)(-0.482) respectively. Association between ABSI and HI with CMRFs as categorical and continuous variables were evaluated using multivariable logistic and linear regression analysis respectively. Results Totally, information of 14,002 students and findings of blood samples of 3483 of them were involved in the current study. In the multivariable logistic regression, an association of HI with high triglyceride (TG) (OR: 0.99, 95 % CI: 0.98-0.99) and ABSI with MetS (OR: 11.41, 2.61-49.88) was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Also, both indices were significantly associated with overweight, generalized, and abdominal obesity. In the multivariable linear regression analysis, increasing HI (per one unit) was associated with body mass index z-score (z-BMI) (beta: -0.01), waist circumference (WC) (beta: 0.15), TG (beta: -0.16), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (beta: -0.02). Moreover, in the multivariable linear models, ABSI was significantly associated with z-BMI, WC, SBP, and diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.001). Conclusions ABSI and HI as novel body shape indices were significantly associated with some CMRFs. Therefore, these indices can be used as some useful anthropometric risk indices for predicting MetS.

Automated summary

The study found a significant association between body shape index (ABSI) and hip index (HI) with cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs), suggesting that these indices can be useful anthropometric risk indicators for predicting metabolic syndrome (MetS).