Percentiles of Body Circumferences and Cutoff Points Regarding the Obesity of Adolescents from São Paulo – Brazil - Abstract
Purpose: To describe the distribution of Waist Circumference (WC) percentiles and cutoff points for obesity in Brazilian adolescents.
Methods: Study including adolescents aged ?10 and <16 years conducted. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height and WC) were taken and data of WC were divided into percentiles derived from LMS regression. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the cutoff points for obesity (BMI ? 97th).
Results: The study included 8.020 adolescents, 54.5% were female. The mean WC was higher in males (70.23 vs. 68.55) and increased according to the stages of sexual maturation in girls: M1 and M5 = 63.26 = 74.53 and boys: 67.86 = G1 and G5 = 73.08. The cutoff points of WC showed high sensitivity (89.3 - 100 and 100 - 94.7) and specificity (87.3 - 87.9 and 88.4 - 95), both female and male, respectively. According to the cutoff points proposed, central obesity was identified in 18.57% girls and 20.96% boys. The values of WC above the P75 showed significant association with adiposity in adolescents 10-15 years.
Conclusion: The WC was significantly associated with body adiposity, and its agespecific percentiles and cutoff points may be used as surrogate markers of central obesity and its comorbidities.