title: Validity of a simplified screening instrument for assessing overweight children in a dental setting: a cross sectional study.
abstract: Obesity, with its rising prevalence among Canadians and its estimated cost of $2 billion annually in Canada, is no longer considered a cosmetic issue, but a major health issue that imposes a great burden on the healthcare system and economy. This cross sectional study aims to evaluate the feasibility of identifying the weight status of 6 to 11 year-old children in a university dental clinic using a simplified overweight screening instrument.
  
  
  
  One hundred sixty eight healthy children were enrolled. Weight and height were measured and overweight/obesity status was assessed using two techniques: 1) the 2007 World Health Organization Body Mass Index (BMI)-for-age reference Tables, 2) simplified overweight screening instrument without BMI calculation. Measures of overall, positive, and negative percent agreement between the two approaches were computed.
  
  
  
  The children's average weight, height, BMI and BMI z-score were respectively 32.6 ± 9.5 kg, 133.8 ± 10.7 cm, 17.8 ± 3.2, and 0.4 ± 1.0. The overall, positive, and negative percent agreement between the two screening approaches were respectively, 89%, 100%, and 83%.
  
  
  
  This study demonstrated the feasibility and parental acceptance of weight, height and BMI measurement in a dental setting and evidence that supports the validity of a new simplified approach to assess children's weight status without having to compute BMI.
  
  
  
  NCT02637752 . Registered 18 December 2015.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, 710F-481 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 2P1, Canada. amir.azarpazhooh@dentistry.utoronto.ca.|Department of Dentistry, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada. amir.azarpazhooh@dentistry.utoronto.ca.|Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. amir.azarpazhooh@dentistry.utoronto.ca.|Toronto Health Economics and Technology Assessment Collaborative, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. amir.azarpazhooh@dentistry.utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6223-158X
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azarpazhooh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, 710F-481 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 2P1, Canada.
authors.forename: Anoushe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sekhavat
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, 710F-481 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 2P1, Canada.|Department of Dentistry, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sigal
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003740:Dental Clinics; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D057238:Growth Charts; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis*
keywords: BMI (Body mass Index); Child growth; Childhood obesity; Weight