title: Reference values of waist circumference and waist/hip ratio in children and adolescents of Mérida, Venezuela: comparison with international references.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To collect regional reference values of waist circumference (WC), and waist/hip ratio (WHR) in children and adolescents from Merida, Venezuela, and to compare them to international references.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 919 students aged 9-17 years from public and private educational establishments were assessed. Weight, height, WC, and WHR were measured. Outliers (± 3 SD Z-Score) were excluded from the data collected. Percentile distribution of the tested variables was done by age and sex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-one percent of subjects were female, and 52.7% were from public institutions. WC (p=0.001) and WHR (p=0.0001) were statistically higher in boys. With advancing age, WC increased in both sexes, while WHR showed the opposite behavior (p=0.0001 for both). The 90th percentile (pc) for WC ranged from 69.7 and 83.6 cm in girls and from 69.2 and 86.7 cm in boys. The 90th pc values of WHR ranged from 0.79 and 0.91 in girls and from 0.86 and 0.93 in boys. Overall, our WC and WHR values were lower than North American values and similar to those of some Latin American references.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Percentile reference charts for WC and WHR specific for age and sex, obtained from a representative sample of children and adolescents from Mérida, Venezuela, are provided. They may be used regionally, both for individual assessment and to implement prevention policies.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Endocrinología, Instituto Autónomo Hospital Universitario de Los Andes, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Maracelly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mederico
authors.forename: Mariela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paoli
authors.forename: Yajaira
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zerpa
authors.forename: Yajaira
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Briceño
authors.forename: Roald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gómez-Pérez
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Nolis
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Camacho
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cichetti
authors.forename: Zarela
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.forename: Lenin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valeri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D014687:Venezuela; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio