Obesity, android fat distribution, and other anthropometric measures have been associated with coronary heart disease in long-term prospective studies. This study examined the association between cardiovascular disease(CVD) risk factors and body mass index(BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio(WHR) in 493 male ranging in age from 23 to 63 years. CVD risk factors measured were blood pressure(SBP and DBP), total cholesterol(TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDLC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDLC), triglyceride(TG), and blood glucose(BG). The BMI and WHR both showed significant negative correlation with HDLC level(r = -0.310, -0.266, P < 0.001), and positive correlation with TG(r = 0.352, 0.386, P < 0.001) and SBP(r = 0.326, 0.208, P < 0.001), and DBP(r = 0.307, -0.258, P < 0.001). Following adjustment for the effect of the WHR, the partial correlations between BMI and the variables of TC(r = 0.268), TG(r = 0.383), HDLC(r = -0.237), SBP(r = 0.172), DBP(r = 0.215), and BG(r = 0.121) were statistically significant(P less than 0.05). However, there was no significant association of WHR with any metabolic variable after adjustment for the effects of the BMI except for HDLC and TC/HDLC. These data suggest the hypothesis that BMI and WHR are independent predictors for risk factors for CVD among the subjects, and that combinations of BMI and WHR are strong enough predictors to be useful in routine screening for CVD risk at fields. We therefore propose that a combination of the BMI and WHR would be a superior indicator in obesity screening than the BMI alone.

Keywords: Android fat distribution, CVD, BMI WHR