Waist circumference percentiles in 2-18 year old Indian children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Endocrinology
• Public Health Nutrition
• Growth Monitoring

Background:

• Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a growing concern in children, necessitating reliable screening tools.
• Waist circumference (WC) is a key indicator of central obesity and a predictor of MS risk.
• Lack of established reference data for WC in Indian children hinders accurate risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish age- and sex-specific reference percentile curves for waist circumference (WC) in Indian children.
• To determine an optimal WC percentile cutoff for identifying children at risk for metabolic syndrome (MS).

Main Methods:

• A multicenter, cross-sectional study involving 10,842 Indian children (aged [age range not specified]) from 5 major cities.
• Waist circumference (WC) measurements were taken using standardized techniques.
• The LMS method was used to compute sex-specific reference percentiles, and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis identified the optimal MS risk cutoff.

Main Results:

• Age- and sex-specific WC percentile curves (5th to 95th) were generated, showing increased WC with age in both genders.
• Median WC was higher in boys than girls after 15 years of age.
• The 70th WC percentile demonstrated high sensitivity (0.82-0.84) and specificity (0.85) for identifying MS risk, with significant Area Under the ROC Curve (0.88-0.92).

Conclusions:

• The study provides valuable age- and sex-specific reference curves for WC in Indian children.
• A cutoff of the 70th WC percentile is recommended for effectively screening Indian children for metabolic syndrome (MS) risk.