Abstract: Objective To explore the relationship between body mass index(BMI),waist circumference(WC),waisthip ratio(WHR)and metabolic syndrome(MS),and compare the significance of the indices' application in three diagnostic criteria for MS:Chinese Diabetes Society(CDS)in 2004,International Diabetes Federation(IDF)in 2005 and the modification of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel Ⅲ(NCEP-A TPⅢ)in 2005.Methods Based on the population survey data in Xuzhou,MS was diagnosed according to the three definitions respectively.BMI,WC,WHR and their coefficient correlation were computed and compared with SPSS13.0.Results The prevalence of MS were 15.2%.15,8% and 22.6% according to the three diagnostic criteria,respectively.Average value of BMI was 27.8,28.0 and 27.1;WC(male/female)was 93.7/87,4,96.8/89.4 and 93.7/85.1(cm);and WHR(male/female) was 0.92/0.86,0.94/0.88 and 0.93/0.86 according to the three criteria,respectively.The correlation coefficients of BMI,WC and WHR were r₁(BMI/WC)=0.785,r₂(BMI/WHR)=0.580 and r₃(WC/W HR)=0.878;and correlations coefficients of BMI/WC were 0.128,0.566 and 0.682 according to CDS(2004),IDF(2005),ATPⅢ(2005),respectively(all of the P<0.01).Conclusion There is a close relation between BMI,WC and WHR.BMI and WC were component of MS and acriterion for judging obesity.For Chinese people,obesity may be a component of MS.