Waist Circumference Outperforms BMI in Predicting Obesity-Related Cancer Risk Among Men

New Delhi: Waist circumference (WC) may predict obesity-related cancer risk better than body mass index (BMI) in men, but not women, a recent study reveals.

The research highlights the limitations of BMI, a widely used measure of body size, which does not account for differences in fat distribution. Waist circumference, however, is considered a more precise indicator of abdominal obesity, closely associated with visceral fat accumulation around internal organs. Visceral fat is particularly harmful because it is metabolically active, contributing significantly to inflammation, insulin resistance, and unhealthy blood lipid profiles—factors closely linked to various negative health outcomes, including cancer.

Led by researchers Dr. Ming Sun, Dr. Josef Fritz, and Dr. Tanja Stocks, the study emphasizes that two individuals with the same BMI can have vastly different risks for cancer depending on their body fat distribution. To explore this, researchers analyzed health assessment data from 339,190 Swedish individuals (61% had objectively measured values, while 39% provided self-reported measurements), with an average age of 51.4 years. These assessments took place from 1981 through 2019, providing comprehensive longitudinal data. Cancer incidence was tracked using the Swedish Cancer Register.

Throughout a median follow-up period of 14 years, 18,185 cases of obesity-associated cancers were recorded. Researchers carefully adjusted their analysis for multiple potentially confounding variables, such as age, smoking status, socioeconomic factors, including education, income, marital status, and birth country.

The results clearly indicated that, among men, increased waist circumference remained significantly associated with heightened cancer risk independently of BMI, underscoring abdominal fat’s unique role in cancer risk. Conversely, for women, the risk relationships with waist circumference and BMI were comparably weaker and similar to each other.

The authors speculate this sex difference arises from variations in fat storage patterns. Typically, men accumulate fat primarily around abdominal organs, whereas women more commonly store subcutaneous and peripheral fat, which poses fewer metabolic risks. The researchers suggest that including hip circumference measurements in future assessments may offer deeper insight, particularly for women's cancer risk, further refining the connection between body fat distribution and cancer susceptibility.

This research was published recently in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.