Metabolic Syndrome X

[chinkychunsa]

So I just had one of my exams for med/surg. I came across that S/S is increased waist circumference of

• Men-greater than 40 inches (102 cm)
  
• Women-greater than 35 inches (88 cm)
  

would that be considered obese?

[hodgieRN]

I'm not sure what you are asking. Are you asking if those waist measurement are considered obese or those measurements in relation to metabolic syndrome?

[llg, PhD, RN]

Not necessarily. They are 2 different units of measure that each measure different things.

"Obesity" is usually based on body mass in related to height -- or for some classification systems, in pounds in relation to height. A person of a known height is said to be "obese" if their body mass or weight is above a certain level, regardless of whether they carry their weight around their middles or whether it is more in their hips, thighs, shoulders, etc. A person could be "obese" based on weight or body mass, but if they are carrying that weight in places other than their waists, they might not exceed the waist circumference standard.

The waist circumference measurement simply indicates how big a person is around the middle. People who carry a lot of fat in their stomachs are at risk for metabolic syndrome. Such a person might be obese. But then, some people with large waists might be really tall and not be technically considered obese by the weight or body mass standard.

Does that make sense?

[chinkychunsa]

yes it does, thank you!

[Katie71275]

The waist circ means like the above person said, they are at risk b/c they carry so much weight in the middle.