ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1530028
Association between weight-adjusted-waist index and anxiety among adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007-2012
Provisionally accepted
- 1Medical Department,Taizhou Fifth People's Hospital, Taizhou, China
- 2Department of Oncology, the Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital of Nantong University, Jiangyin, China
- 3Department of Radiotherapy, First People's Hospital of Yancheng, Yancheng, China
- 4The Second People's Hospital of Jiangbei District, Chongqing, China
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Background & Aims: Anxiety is a pervasive mental health concern and has evolved into a multifaceted and pressing global health concern. Despite this, the connection between the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and anxiety symptoms remains unexplored. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between anxiety symptoms and WWI.Methods: Participants were recruited from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning the years 2007 to 2012. Anxiety was evaluated based on the patients' self-reported number of anxious days per month. WWI was calculated by dividing the waist circumference (measured in centimeters) by the square root of the weight (measured in kilograms). To examine linear and non-linear associations between the WWI and anxiety, we employed survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression and generalized additive models. Subgroup analyses were also conducted.Results: This study comprised 14677 participants, with 3745 of them experiencing a state of anxiety. WWI exhibited a positive correlation with anxiety, as evidenced by a fully adjusted odds ratio of 1.11. Upon converting WWI into a categorical variable based on quartiles, participants in the highest quartile had a significantly elevated risk of anxiety compared to those in the lowest quartile. Furthermore, subgroup analyses indicated that the link between WWI and anxiety was more robust among individuals who identified as female, were under 50 years old, were non-Hispanic Black, were separated, were non-smokers, and were non-heavy drinkers.Conclusions: This study uncovered a notable positive correlation between WWI and anxiety, warranting further validation through future research endeavors.
Keywords: Anxiety, weight-adjusted-waist index, NHANES, BMI - body mass index, Waist Circumference
Received: 26 Nov 2024; Accepted: 21 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yan, Liang, Chen, Ding, Wu and Huang. 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: Yuqian Yan, Medical Department,Taizhou Fifth People's Hospital, Taizhou, China
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