title: Threshold values of visceral fat and waist girth in Japanese obese children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In order to define the diagnostic criteria for visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation and abdominal obesity in Japanese youths, a cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were 194 boys and 96 girls ranging in age from 6 to 15 years. Obese youths were classified according to the occurrence of abnormal values in serum triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase or insulin level. A threshold value of each criterion was calculated, using the analysis of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The areas of total abdominal adipose tissue (AT), VAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were estimated by single slice computed tomography at the level of umbilicus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VAT area was greater in boys than it was in girls. The critical values for VAT area and waist circumference in all subjects were 54.8 cm2 and 83.5 cm, respectively. The values for the area under the ROC curves were VAT area > total AT area > waist circumference > SAT area > percentage overweight > percentage body fat. The sensitivity and specificity for VAT area were 90.5 and 79.5%, respectively. Those for waist circumference were high enough (> 70%) for clinical use. In the linear regression analysis assigning VAT area as an independent variable and waist circumference as a dependent variable, the expected value for the waist circumference was 82 cm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Japanese obese youths ranging in age from 6 to 15 years, the diagnostic criteria for the waist circumference was 82 cm, and that for VAT area was 55 cm2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan. kasayama@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kohtaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asayama
authors.forename: Hidemasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hayashibe
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Tomoo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Mitsuhiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Hidenari
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Shigetaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sugihara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D044466:Asian People; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism*; D012372:ROC Curve; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D014280:Triglycerides; D000410:Alanine Transaminase