Fitness adjusted racial disparities in central adiposity among women in the USA using quantile regression

OBJECTIVE: This study comprehensively explores racial/ethnic disparities in waist circumference (WC) after adjusting for cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), among both adult and adolescent women, across WC percentiles. METHODS: Analysis was conducted using data from the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Female participants (n = 3,977) aged 12–49 years with complete data on CRF, height, weight and WC were included. Quantile regression models, stratified by age groups (12–15, 16–19 and 20–49 years), were used to assess the association between WC and race/ethnicity adjusting for CRF, height and age across WC percentiles (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th). RESULTS: For non‐Hispanic (NH) Black, in both the 16–19 and 20–49 years age groups, estimated WC was significantly greater than for NH White across percentiles above the median with estimates ranging from 5.2 to 11.5 cm. For Mexican Americans, in all age groups, estimated WC tended to be significantly greater than for NH White particularly for middle percentiles (50th and 75th) with point estimates ranging from 1.9 to 8.4 cm. CONCLUSIONS: Significant disparities in WC between NH Black and Mexican women, as compared to NH White, remain even after adjustment for CRF. The magnitude of the disparities associated with race/ethnicity differs across WC percentiles and age groups.