Year: 2025 | Month: October-December | Volume: 10 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 220-224
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijshr.20250431
Neck Circumference as a Simple Clinical Marker of Cardiometabolic Risk in Obese Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
Shenbagadevi S1, Leela Privadharsini Balamurali2, Sukumar R3
1Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Government Medical College, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India
2Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India
3Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Government Medical College and E.S.I Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Corresponding Author: Shenbagadevi S
ABSTRACT
Background: Obesity significantly elevates cardiometabolic risk, encompassing conditions like metabolic syndrome, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance, particularly through visceral and upper-body subcutaneous fat accumulation. Neck circumference (NC) has emerged as a straightforward anthropometric proxy for upper-body fat, offering advantages over traditional measures like waist circumference or BMI.
Aim: To evaluate NC as a simple clinical marker of cardiometabolic risk in obese adults.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to measure NC in obese individuals, assess key cardiometabolic risk parameters and to determine associations between NC and cardiometabolic variables.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included 157 obese adults (>30 years, BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²) from tertiary care centres in Chennai. NC, anthropometry, fasting glucose, lipid profile, blood pressure, insulin, and HOMA-IR were assessed. Pearson correlation analysis was performed (SPSS v21).
Results: Mean BMI was 40.59 ± 3.98 kg/m². NC demonstrated significant correlations with waist circumference (r = –0.59, p < 0.001), HDL cholesterol (r = –0.59, p < 0.001), serum insulin (r = –0.51, p < 0.001), and waist–hip ratio (r = –0.51, p < 0.001). Associations were also observed with blood pressure, fasting glucose, and lipid profile.
Conclusion: NC is a simple, non-invasive, and reliable clinical marker that correlates strongly with multiple cardiometabolic risk parameters. It can serve as an efficient screening tool to identify high-risk obese adults—especially in primary care and resource-limited settings.
Keywords: Anthropometry; neck circumference; obesity; cardiometabolic risk