Waist-to-height ratio percentiles and cutoffs for obesity: a cross-sectional study in brazilian adolescents.
This study aimed to describe the distribution of waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) percentiles and cutoffs for obesity in Brazilian adolescents. A cross-sectional study including adolescents aged 10 to 15 years was conducted in the city of São Paulo, Brazil; anthropometric measurements (weight, height, and waist-circumference) were taken, and WHtRs were calculated and then divided into percentiles derived by using Least Median of Squares (LMS) regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used in determining cutoffs for obesity (BMI ≥ 97th percentile) and Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparing variables. The study included 8,019 adolescents from 43 schools, of whom 54.5% were female, and 74.8% attended public schools. Boys had higher mean WHtR than girls (0.45 ± 0.06 vs 0.44 ± 0.05; p=0.002) and higher WHtR at the 95th percentile (0.56 vs 0.54; p<0.05). The WHtR cutoffs according to the WHO criteria ranged from 0.467 to 0.506 and 0.463 to 0.496 among girls and boys respectively, with high sensitivity (82.8-95%) and specificity (84-95.5%). The WHtR was significantly associated with body adiposity measured by BMI. Its age-specific percentiles and cutoffs may be used as additional surrogate markers of central obesity and its co-morbidities.
Adolescent Sector, Department of Pediatrics, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Isa
I
de Pádua Cintra
Adolescent Sector, Department of Pediatrics, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Maria Aparecida
MA
Zanetti Passos
Department of Nutrition, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Luana Caroline
LC
Dos Santos
Statistics Division, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil.
Helymar
H
da Costa Machado
Adolescent Sector, Department of Pediatrics, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Mauro
M
Fisberg
D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012016:Reference Values; D012574:Schools; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055105:Waist Circumference; D065927:Waist-Height Ratio
Adolescents; Brazil; Central adiposity; Obesity; Waist-to-height ratio