Central Adiposity Indicators, Cardiometabolic Markers and Dietary Quality Among Educational Workers in Southern Ecuador: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background/Objectives: Cardiovascular disease (CV) is the leading cause of death in Ecuador, and educational workers have been described as exposed to occupational stress and sedentary behavior, factors that may increase cardiometabolic risk. This study evaluated the concordance among three central adiposity indicators, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)-estimated visceral fat level (VFL), and their associations with cardiometabolic markers and dietary quality (DQ) in educational workers in Loja, Ecuador.

Methods

Cross-sectional study of 101 workers (73 women, 28 men; mean age 37.7 years). Adiposity was classified using sex-specific cut-offs for WC (≥90/≥80 cm), WHR (≥0.90/≥0.85) (men/women) and a BIA-estimated VFL (>9). Fasting lipid profiles, fasting glucose, and DQ were assessed once, with DQ evaluated using the Diet Quality Questionnaire (DQQ). Statistical analyses included Cohen’s kappa; Spearman correlation, and binary logistic regression.