title: Anthropometric methods for obesity screening in schoolchildren: the Ouro Preto Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Childhood obesity is increasing dramatically in last decades. To evaluate the usefulness of body mass index (BMI), skinfold thickness (ST), waist circumference (WC), and foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance (BIA-FF) for screening for obesity in mixed-race population, using the tetrapolar bioelectrical impedance (BIA-T) technique as reference method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A cross-sectional-based population study was performed in the city of Ouro Preto, Brazil, in 2006. Schoolchildren aged 6-15 years (n = 788) was randomly selected according to age and sex stratified by the proportion of students in each schools of the city. Nonparametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to define the sensitivity and specificity for each method studied using the tetrapolar method as reference. The BMI and the BIA-FF were the most suitable for adiposity screening in pre-pubertal and pubertal stages because they present a better balance between sensitivity and specificity, and smaller misclassification. For post-pubertal boys, the BF-ST-D was the best body fat assessment method.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that BIA-FF and BMI are choice methods for obesity screening in mixed population and that the method choice for body fat screening must be done according to sexual maturity of boys and girls. The present study demonstrates the need to perform studies in wider mixed-race population to determine anthropometric parameters and to examine the predictive ability of methods and cut-offs here elucidated in the development of obesity.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil. anapaula.candido@ufjf.edu.br
authors.forename: A P C
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Cándido
authors.forename: J P S
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Alosta
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: G L L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Machado-Coelho
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods*; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology; D012372:ROC Curve; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D055105:Waist Circumference