Body mass index as a marker of dyslipidemia in children.
BACKGROUND
Obesity is very frequently associated with conditions such as dyslipidemia and diabetes.


OBJECTIVE
To verify the diagnostic value of the cut-off points proposed by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and Conde & Monteiro (C&M) for the screening and identification of dyslipidemia in children between 10 and 12 years of age.


METHODS
The Body Mass Index (BMI) of 374 children of the school network of the city of Santa Maria-RS was ascertained. The children were selected in a stratified manner from a population of 4,083 children. Lipid levels (reference standard) were determined by means of analysis of total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C, HDL-C and triglycerides (TG). The cut-off points of the IOTF and C&M were used to classify the BMI. Descriptive statistics and analysis of sensitivity and specificity were employed.


RESULTS
There was a statistical difference in excess weight prevalence between both proposals (24.7% and 28.6% for IOTF and C&M, respectively). A variation was observed in sensitivity (33% to 83%) and specificity (62% to 80%) between the cut-off points as to the detection of dyslipidemia. The percentage of false negatives was lower than the percentage of false positives.


CONCLUSIONS
The proposals may be used to screen elevated TC and LDL-C in male individuals. Either the IOTF or the C&M classification may be used to identify subjects without dyslipidemia, as these proposals presented high specificity.
Lunardi
Cláudia Cruz
CC
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. cclunardi@hotmail.com
Petroski
Edio Luiz
EL
D017677:Age Distribution; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009765:Obesity / Q000145:classification*; D012015:Reference Standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors
D015415:Biomarkers; D008055:Lipids