Appropriate waist circumference cut points for identifying insulin resistance in black youth: a cross sectional analysis of the 1986 Jamaica birth cohort.

Background: While the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has ethnic specific waist circumference (WC) cut-points for the metabolic syndrome for Asian populations it is not known whether the cut-points for black populations should differ from those for European populations. We examined the validity of IDF WC cut points for identifying insulin resistance (IR), the underlying cause of the metabolic syndrome, in predominantly black, young Jamaican adults.

Methods: Participants from a 1986 birth cohort were evaluated between 2005 and 2007 when they were 18-20 years old.