title: [Waist circumference distribution of Chinese school-age children and adolescents].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the distribution of waist circumference (WC) in a representative group of Chinese children for establishing the Chinese WC cut-off points.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional data obtained from 15 mainland provinces and Hong Kong were collected. There were 178 865 children and adolescents, aged 7 - 18 years-old in total. All subjects were divided into five regional groups-costal city, non-coastal city, northern rural, southern rural, and Hong Kong, for analyzing the distribution of WC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Large variations in WC distribution were found among Netherlands demonstrated the necessity of setting up China's own WC cutoffs. Sex and age-specific percentiles were obtained and smoothed by using the LMS method.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data obtained from this study could be used to develop the national WC cutoff points for Chinese children and adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China. jichengye@263.net
authors.forename: Cheng-ye
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Rita yt
authors.initials: Ry
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Guan-sheng
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Zhong-hu
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Tian-jiao
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio