Waist-to-height ratio predicts the risk of hypertension better than BMI, finds study

New waist-to-height cutoffs to assess fat mass and obesity predicted the risk of hypertension better than body mass index, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University in the US. The aim of the study was to externally validate new pediatric waist circumference-to-height ratio (WHtR)-estimated fat mass cutoffs for predicting the risk of elevated blood pressure and hypertension among a multiracial population of children and adults in the U.S. The work is published in The Journal of Nutrition.