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Japan's obesity association may revise controversial metabolic gauge+
Nov 17 10:06 PM US/Eastern
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TOKYO, Nov. 18 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Japan's obesity research association is considering revising as early as next year the waistline threshold, a key gauge used to diagnose obesity and metabolic syndrome, to better reflect the reality of health conditions among the Japanese, sources close to the association said Wednesday.

The Japan Society for the Study of Obesity currently sets the benchmark waist size at 85 centimeters or more for men, and 90 cm or more for women to diagnose obesity. Japan's health ministry has been using the criteria in metabolic syndrome check-ups.

Though there are various views among experts, the latest move comes after calls questioning its fairness emerged, as the limit for men in Japan is stricter than that overseas, and the threshold for women is more tolerant than for men.

On top of that, the criteria adopted by JASSO in 2000 were based on data collected mainly from fat people, including those with marked obesity and with fewer female samples, the sources said.

Measuring the waist gives a rough measure of abdominal fat that causes lifestyle-related diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart attacks.

A team of experts at JASSO is now eyeing to set new limits for appropriate waist sizes, using data on more than 10,000 people, and analyzing the link among the amount of fat accumulated in the abdomen, the waist size, and lifestyle-related diseases, according to gender and various age brackets.

It will also look into how the waistline is related to risk of illnesses and death rates, the sources said.

According to a 2008 survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, about a half of Japanese men aged 40 to 74 and around 20 percent of women in the same age bracket are either "suspected of having metabolic syndrome" or "considered to be metabolic syndrome patients," based on the current waist-size criteria.

Tadashi Nakamura, a doctor at Kawasaki Hospital in Hyogo Prefecture and also a member of JASSO, cautioned that the public focus seems to be centered only on waist size at the moment.

"The waist-size limit is just a rough measurement of abdominal fat in its own right," he said. "But in terms of preventing lifestyle-related diseases and metabolic syndrome, (looking at the waistline) has good aspects."

"It is necessary now to examine the validity of the criteria for diagnosing obesity based on various research results in the past decade or so," he added.