In order to evaluate the applicability of waist circumference as a health indicator, this study examined the relationships between anthropometric measures and their ratios and hematological parameters, i.e. total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT), and blood pressure for 456 males aged 2064, who were employees of a private company in Tokyo; the anthropometric measures included waist circumference, stature, weight and subcutaneous skinfold thickness. There were three major findings. First, the correlation coefficients of the waist circumference and thewaist/stature ratio (WSR) with TC, TG and blood pressure were higher than those of the bodymass index (BMI). Second, discriminant analysis determined that the waist circumference andthe WSR were significant variables. Third, the relationships between either of the waist circumference or the WSR and the proportion of the subjects with health problems and the total number of health problems, showed a J-shape pattern. These results suggent that the waist circumference and the WSR are useful indicators, and, in particular, the waist circumference is a useful indicator for individual health for everyday care.
