Correlation between waist and mid-thigh circumference and cardiovascular fitness in Korean college students: a case study

[Purpose] We investigated whether waist and mid-thigh circumference correlated with cardiovascular fitness (VO(2)max) in a selected sample of Korean college students. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 41 college students (25 males, 16 females; age, > 19 years) who visited the sports medicine laboratory at the Korea National University of Transportation in Chungju-si, Republic of Korea, to undergo measurements of body composition, cardiovascular fitness, and waist and mid-thigh circumference. [Results] VO(2)max did not correlate with waist circumference or mid-thigh circumference in males, whereas VO(2)max was negatively correlated with mid-thigh circumference, but not waist circumference, in females. [Conclusion] Mid-thigh circumference was not associated with cardiovascular fitness or waist in male college students. However, it was associated with cardiovascular fitness in female college students. Well-designed studies are needed to investigate this further.