Classification of Impaired Waist to Height Ratio Using Machine Learning Technique

Metabolic dysfunctions are a set of metabolic risk factors that include abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, among others. Individuals with any of these metabolic dysfunctions are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Several parameters and anthropometric indices are used to detect metabolic dysfunctions, such as waist circumference and waist-height ratio (WHtR). The WHtR has an advantage over the body mass index (BMI) since the WHtR provides information on the distribution of body fat, particularly abdominal fat. Central fat distribution is associated with more significant cardio-metabolic health risks than total body fat. Machine learning techniques involve algorithms capable of predicting and analyzing data, increasing our understanding of the events being studied. k-means is a clustering algorithm that has been used in the detection of obesity. This research aims to apply the k-means grouping algorithm to study its capability as an impaired WHtR classifier. Accuracy (Acc), recall (Rec), and precision (P) were calculated. A database of 1863 subjects was used; the database consists of fifteen (15) anthropometric variables and two (2) indices; each anthropometric variable was measured for each participant. The results reported in this research suggest that the k-means clustering algorithm is an acceptable classifier of impaired WHtR subjects (Acc=0.81, P=0.83, and Rec=0.73). Besides, the k-means algorithm was able to detect subjects with overweight and fatty tissue deposits in the back and arm areas, suggesting that fat accumulation in these areas is directly related to abdominal fat accumulation.