Waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio and conicity index to evaluate android fat excess in Brazilian children

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the ability of anthropometric measurements to identify excess android fat and to propose cut-off points for excess central adiposity in children, according to age and sex.Design A cross-sectional study with children from a municipality of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analyses were performed to evaluate waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and conicity index (C-index) in estimating excess android fat by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).Setting Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.Subjects Children aged 4-9 years (n 788).Results Overweight prevalence was 29·1 % and android fat percentage was higher among girls. All central fat measurements were able to discriminate excess android fat in the age groups evaluated, especially WC and WHtR, with cut-off points showing good sensitivity and specificity overall.Conclusions Because these methods are easy to obtain and inexpensive, it is possible to use WC, WHtR and C-index in population surveys to evaluate central obesity. The proposed cut-off points showed satisfactory values of sensitivity and specificity and can be used in epidemiological studies.