NECK CIRCUMFERENCE POSITIVELY RELATED WITH CENTRAL OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT IN TURKISH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Aim: According to the World Health Organization, central obesity is increasing alarmingly worldwide. Neck circumference is a relatively new method of differentiating between normal and abnormal fat distribution. The aim of this study is to determine the association between neck circumference and central obesity in young Turkish male and female university students. Methods: A community of university students based cross-sectional study was conducted on 319 males and 838 females and investigated the association between neck circumference and other anthropometric variables by gender. Results: In male subjects, the neck circumference revealed a positive correlation with the body mass index (r = 0.684, p < 0.01), waist circumference (r = 0.686, p < 0.01) and waist/hip ratio (r = 0.534, p < 0.01). Similarly, in female subjects neck circumference revealed a positive correlation with the body mass index (r = 0.482, p < 0.01), waist circumference (r = 0.479, p < 0.01) and waist/hip ratio (r = 0.246, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated that the positive correlation between neck circumference, which is a simple and fast anthropometric measurement, and visceral obesity, is also applicable to university students