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Objectives: To evaluate the association of Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) with the risk for diabetes, and to examine the ability of these measures to predict new cases of diabetes in ⩾50-year old Taiwanese. Methods: We utilized the 2003 and 2007 "Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan" datasets. We analyzed the cross-sectional associations in 4987 subjects (⩾50 years old) and the ability of BMI and WC to predict new cases of diabetes in these subjects four years later. We also analyzed the cutoffs with Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC). Results: Both indicators were associated with a risk for diabetes but WC showed a stronger association. Both indicators significantly predicted the risk for new diabetes, but WC was a stronger predictor. For each 1 cm increment in WC, there was a 6% increase in the risk for new diabetes in men (p=0.001) and a 4% increase in women (p=0.005). The cutoffs for the risk of new onset diabetes differed by age and gender. The BMI cutoff was reduced from 24.52 to 21.82 kg/m2 for men and 24.27 to 22.88 kg/m2 for women, whereas the WC cutoff was increased from 84.5 to 89.5 cm for men and 82.5 to 91.5 cm for women. Conclusions: Both BMI and WC were significantly associated with the risk for diabetes or the risk for new diabetes, but the association was stronger with WC for both. The predicted cutoffs for diabetes varied according to age and gender and were different from the current Bureau of Health Promotion recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]