WAIST PERCENTILES - A SIMPLE TEST FOR ATHEROGENIC DISEASE

Objective. To give standards for quantification of the magnitude of wa ist circumference in children. Methods: We calculated the percentiles of waist circumference bq age and sex from a sample of 2858 subjects ( 1440 males and 1418 females. aged 6-14 years). Data were from a popula tion survey of 15 000 school-children in Pescara, a town in Abruzzo, a region of Central Italy. Results: We reported the values of the calcu lated percentiles by age and sex and gave the smoothed percentile curv es. Conclusions: Some recent studies in adults have indicated that mea suring waist circumference seems to be the simplest way to estimate ob esity and the risk of cardiovascular disease. In children, similar evi dence is emerging. To date, no example of calculating standards has be en published for quantitating the magnitude of waist circumference in children; therefore. our example of standard waist measurements could be used as a practical model for selecting subjects with a value of le ss than or equal to or > 2 SD from the mean. The metabolic status shou ld then be checked by complementary laboratory examination.