Within the metabolic syndrome criteria, what waist circumference thresholds are used for males and females?

• A. >90 cm males, >70 cm females
• B. >94 cm males, >80 cm females
• C. >100 cm males, >90 cm females
• D. >88 cm males, >76 cm females

Answer: (B)

Central obesity is the measure of excess fat around the abdomen, and it’s a key criterion in metabolic syndrome. The thresholds used to define central obesity vary by guidelines and ethnicity, but for many common definitions (especially Europid populations) the standard cutoffs are 94 cm or more for men and 80 cm or more for women. This makes the pair of values greater than 94 cm for males and greater than 80 cm for females the best match. Other options reflect different guideline cutoffs (such as ATP III’s higher thresholds) or nonstandard values, which is why they don’t align with the commonly used criteria.