The study by Chateau-Degat et al. explored different metabolic syndrome clinical criteria in 3 ethnic groups (1,417 Quebecers, 817 Indian Crees, and 379 Inuit) of the province of Quebec, Canada. They found that, depending on the clinical criteria used to diagnose the metabolic syndrome, Cree individuals had a 1.3- to 2.5-fold higher prevalence and Inuit nearly half the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome compared to Quebecers mainly of Caucasian origin. In individuals without the metabolic syndrome, irrespective of sex and ethnicity, a similar increase in waist circumference was associated with deterioration in insulin resistance determined by the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance. However, in subjects with the metabolic syndrome, Inuit had lower insulin resistance than Crees and Quebecers except for Inuit men in the highest quartile of waist circumference. Finally, for the same number of abnormalities, the average waist girth adjusted for age and sex was lower in Quebecers than in Inuit and Indian Crees. Again, these results illustrate that abdominal obesity does not have a comparable impact on the cardiometabolic risk profile of different populations. Thus, ethnic-dependent waist circumference cutoff values should be validated to properly identify individuals with the metabolic syndrome.
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