近年來肥胖已逐漸被視為一種需治療的慢性症。一些流行病學上研究指出不同型態之肥胖對代謝性症候群或心血管疾病有不同影響結果。本橫向性研究收集6318 位臺灣民眾(男性：3540 位，女性：2778)位至健診中心接受健康檢查之健康資料，探討其腰圍對15 項健康問題之影響是否有差異。結果顯示預測男、女性健康問題腰圍之最佳切值明顯低西方人之參考值，男性腰圍為81.5-83 公分，女性為76.0-80.5 公分；不管男女，腰圍愈大，罹患高血壓、高膽固醇、高三酸甘油酯、第二型糖尿病、高尿酸、肺功能異常、脂肪肝、退化性關節炎之OR 值皆呈顯著性增加趨勢(Trend, p<0.01)；再者，我們發現腰圍大小對女性罹患高血壓(男性3.6 倍，女性6.6 倍)、高尿酸(男性3.5 倍，女性11.9 倍)、脂肪肝(男性12倍，女性17.8 倍)之危險程度比男性高。

Obesity has been recognized to be a chronic disease to be treated in recent years. Epidemiological researches have revealed the definition of obesity based on different anthropometric indices and had different extent of impact on metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular disease. This cross-sectional study collected data from 6318 Taiwanese people (3540 men and 2778 women) receiving health examinations on a health screen center and 15 medical problems were analyzed on their association with the waist circumference (WC). The results showed that the optimal predictive values (men: 81.5-83 cm, women: 76.0-80.5 cm) of WC to define obesity in both genders of our cohort are obviously lower than those recommended for the Caucasian. Men or women with a larger WC had an increasing risk of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, type II diabetes, hyperuricemia, pulmonary function impairment, fatty liver disease, and osteoarthritis (trend, p<0.01). Furthermore, the risk of hypertension (OR: 6.6 v. 3.6), hyperuricemia (OR: 11.9 v. 3.5) and fatty liver (OR: 17.8 v. 12.0) was observed to be higher in women versus men.