title: Where should we measure waist circumference in clinically overweight and obese youth?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Waist circumference (WC) measurement is a useful tool in the assessment of overweight/obese individuals, but standard measures may miss an apron of 'overhanging' fat (termed 'panniculus'). The objective of this study was to assess whether, in clinically overweight/obese youth, 'pannicular' WC better correlates with fat mass than a standard WC measurement.
  
  
  METHODS
  Standard and pannicular WC, alongside body composition (BC) measures, were collected from 181 consultations on 127 overweight and obese children/adolescents (52% male; mean (standard deviation) age 12.5 (3.4) years). Correlation coefficients describe associations between WC and measures of BC, and between ΔWC and ΔBC, while linear regression models assessed which of the WC measures explained more of the variability in BC and ΔBC over time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Standard and pannicular WC were highly correlated (r = 0.95). Correlation coefficients with measures of BC were generally greater for pannicular than standard WC, with greatest correlations seen for whole body (r = 0.94 vs. 0.85, respectively) and truncal (r = 0.86 vs. 0.77) fat mass. Furthermore, pannicular and Δpannicular WC explained more variability in truncal fat and Δtruncal fat than the standard measure of WC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data show that pannicular, rather than standard, WC measurements better correlate with absolute measures of fat mass, and their change over time, in clinically overweight/obese youth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sabin
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Penny
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Katherine J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Zoë
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: McCallum
authors.forename: George A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Werther
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000293:Adolescent; D001823:Body Composition; D002648:Child; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000473:pathology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055105:Waist Circumference
keywords: adiposity; bioelectrical impedance; obesity; visceral; waist circumference