title: Overweight and obesity: prediction by silhouettes in young adults.
abstract: The present study analyzes the prevalence of overweight/obesity in a sample of young adults from the University of the Basque Country (Spain), and tests the efficiency of the silhouettes to predict overweight/obesity. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of volunteer university students from the University of the Basque Country (356 men and 745 women, age: 18-33 years), who came to the Physical Anthropology laboratory where a standardized questionnaire was administered and anthropometric measurements were taken by a well-trained anthropometrist. Height and weight were obtained. BMI was calculated as weight/height(2) (kg/m(2)) and it was used as a reference method. Using a questionnaire, based on the standard figural stimuli, subjects were asked to choose the silhouette which was closest to his/her usual appearance (current body size). The accuracy of the Williamson et al.'s silhouettes as an overweight-obesity indicator was analyzed by gender-specific receiver operating curve (ROC). The cutoff figure to distinguish between nonoverweight and overweight-obese individuals corresponded to number 7 in men and 6 in women. These cutoff values matched optimal sensitivity and specificity, with few nonoverweight subjects selecting silhouettes bigger than 7 in the case of men or 6 for women. In conclusion, the figural stimuli allows the identification of populations at overweight/obesity risk with the simple use of silhouettes, at least in this rank of age, where the overweight and obesity are yet little frequent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology, and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain. mjmunozcachon@gmail.com
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Cachón
authors.forename: Itziar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Salces
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arroyo
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ansotegui
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rocandio
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rebato
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D000886:Anthropometry; D001154:Art; D001827:Body Height; D049628:Body Size; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013030:Spain; D055815:Young Adult