Critical value for the index of body fat distribution based on waist and hip circumferences and stature in obese girls

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the critical value for the standard deviation score (SDS) of waist ± hip ratio (WHR)aheight (Ht), as an age-adjusted measure of body fat distribution, in relation to occurrence of biochemical complications in obese girls. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, clinical study. The (WHRaHt)-SDS was calculated as described previously. Obese girls were classi®ed into two groups according to the occurrence of abnormal values in either serum triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase or insulin level. The criteria for obesity were subjected to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. SUBJECTS: One-hundred and twenty-four outpatient Japanese obese girls, ranging in age from 9 to 15 y. MEASUREMENTS: Height, body weight, waist girth and hip girth as anthropometric measures. Percentage overweight, waist girth, WHR and (WHRaHt)-SDS as criteria for obesity. Clinical laboratory analysis for fasting blood samples of obese children. RESULTS: Fifty-nine girls were classi®ed into the no complication group, and 65 girls into the complication group. Those with complications were older, more obese, and their waist girth and WHR were larger, than the girls without complications. The (WHRaHt)-SDS was b2-fold higher and lipoprotein pro®le was more atherogenic in the complication group than in the no complication group. Among the four criteria of obesity, (WHRaHt)-SDS gave the ROC curve skewed furthest into the top left corner of the diagram. Both sensitivity and speci®city for (WHRaHt)-SDS were b80% at the critical value of 2.00. The sensitivity for waist girth was as high as that for speci®city for the rest of the criteria were`80%. CONCLUSION: Only (WHRaHt)-SDS showed high enough sensitivity and speci®city to predict metabolic derangement in the present obese girls. (WHRaHt)-SDS can serve as the diagnostic criterion that classi®es obesity in Japanese adolescent girls into two types.

Waist circumference percentiles for Portuguese children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years

“…In this dataset, children with a WC ≥71 cm were 14 times more likely to have a negative risk profile than normal ones [13]. In obese girls, Asayama et al have found the value of 77 cm for the WC to show the best combination of sensitivity and specificity to detect metabolic abnormalities in 120 subjects aged 9-15 years [2]. Due to the lack of published critical values for fat distribution in children and adolescents, based on measured biological endpoints, national representative centile distribution is useful in clinical settings.…”

Association between stunting and overweight among 10–15-y-old children in the North West Province of South Africa: the THUSA BANA Study

“…In other studies, it was found that girls had almost 50% greater skinfold thickness than boys at all ages 25,31 and the percentage body fat was lower in obese boys than in obese girls. 28 In a study carried out on shantytown children from Sao Paulo, Brazil, the authors found that low energy expenditure may be a risk factor for weight gain in susceptible populations, this indicates that low energy expenditure may help to explain the increased risk of excess weight gain leading to obesity among shantytown girls compared with shantytown boys. 32 …”

“…Abdominal visceral fat has recently been measured in children. [27][28][29][30] These studies have suggested that deleterious effects of visceral adipose tissue on blood lipid risk factors seen in adults are already present in children. Predicting visceral fat from anthropometric measures such as WC, WHR and sagittal diameter has been attempted in both adults and children.…”

“…Predicting visceral fat from anthropometric measures such as WC, WHR and sagittal diameter has been attempted in both adults and children. [27][28][29][30] To date, no single anthropometric index has yet been generally accepted to be superior to others as a surrogate of visceral fat measurement in children, but WC has been suggested as a tool in epidemiological studies to identify children with risk factors for noncommunicable diseases. 30 Previous studies' results suggested that the type of obesity changes with age in obese children.…”

Body mass index, waist hip ratio, and waist circumference: which measure to classify obesity?

“…Waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) are the two basic anthropometric measurements taken and WC is divided by HC in order to create the waist hip ratio (WHR). Both WC and WHR provide an indication of abdominal obesity (Doll et al 2002;Ho et al 2001;Assayama et al 2000;Lev-Ran 2001;Lean et al 1995).…”