SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Obesity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1562060
This article is part of the Research TopicCardiovascular Anthropometry For Large Scale Population Studies Volume IIView all articles
Abdominal Obesity Prevalence in Latin America: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Comparing ATP III and IDF Criteria
Provisionally accepted
Víctor Juan Vera-Ponce1,2*
Joan A. Loayza-Castro1Fiorella E. Zuzunaga-Montoya3
Luisa Erika Milagros Vásquez Romero1Nataly Mayeley Sanchez-Tamay1,2Juan Carlos Bustamante-Rodríguez1,2Jhosmer Ballena- Caicedo1,2Carmen Inés Gutierrez De Carrillo1,2- 1Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru
- 2Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru
- 3Universidad Continental, Lima, Peru
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Background: Abdominal obesity (AO) represents a significant cardiovascular risk factor with distinctive characteristics in Latin American populations. Its prevalence has increased substantially in recent decades, although estimates vary according to the diagnostic criteria. Objective: To determine the prevalence of AO in Latin American populations through a systematic review with meta-analysis, comparing ATP III and IDF criteria. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across SCOPUS, Web of Science, PubMed, and EMBASE databases. Observational studies evaluating AO prevalence in Latin American populations using either ATP III (≥102/88 cm) or IDF (≥90/80 cm) criteria were included. Meta-regressions were performed to assess the influence of publication year and sample size. Results: Sixty-one studies were included (n=281,694 participants). The pooled prevalence according to ATP III criteria was 40% (95% CI: 34-46%) and 62% (95% CI: 56-68%) according to IDF criteria. Sex-stratified analysis revealed significantly higher prevalences in women (ATP III: 50% vs 27%; IDF: 74.3% vs 46.8%). Temporal metaregression demonstrated an upward trend, particularly in studies utilizing IDF criteria, while sample size showed no significant influence on prevalence estimates. Substantial geographic variations were observed, with Mexico and Venezuela exhibiting the highest prevalences. Heterogeneity was considerably high (I²>99%) across all analyses. Conclusions: AO prevalence in Latin America is high and demonstrates significant sexual dimorphism. These findings challenge the validity of current cut-off points and suggest the need to develop Latin American-specific criteria based on clinically relevant outcomes.
Keywords: abdominal obesity, Waist Circumference, Latin America, Prevalence, Systematic review, metaanalysis
Received: 16 Jan 2025; Accepted: 27 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Vera-Ponce, Loayza-Castro, Zuzunaga-Montoya, Vásquez Romero, Sanchez-Tamay, Bustamante-Rodríguez, Ballena- Caicedo and Gutierrez De Carrillo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Víctor Juan Vera-Ponce, Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru
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