Waist circumference percentiles for Canadian youth 11-18y of age.
OBJECTIVE
To develop age- and sex-specific waist circumference reference data for Canadian youth.


METHODS
Cross-sectional population survey.


METHODS
1981 Canada Fitness Survey.


METHODS
Nationally representative sample of 3064 youth (1540 boys and 1524 girls) 11-18 y of age.


METHODS
Waist circumference was measured with a flexible anthropometric tape.


METHODS
Smoothed and weighted 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 95th waist circumference percentiles derived from LMS regression.


RESULTS
Waist circumference increases with age in both boys and girls, and boys have higher values of waist circumference than girls at every age and percentile level.


CONCLUSIONS
These reference data can be used to identify youth with an elevated risk of developing obesity-related disorders and can serve as a baseline for future studies of temporal trends in waist circumference.


BACKGROUND
This research was funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (Grant #T4946).
Katzmarzyk
P T
PT
School of Physical and Health Education, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. katzmarz@post.queensu.ca
D000005:Abdomen / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D000886:Anthropometry; D001824:Body Constitution / Q000502:physiology*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics