Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 16, 2026
Measuring the Functional Abilities of Children Aged 3-6 Years Old with Observational Methods and Computer Tools
Published on: June 20, 2020
Reference centile curves for wrist circumference for Indian children aged 3-18 years
Vaman Khadilkar1, Shashi Chiplonkar1, Veena Ekbote1
1Growth and Endocrine Unit, Hirabai Cowasji Jehangir Medical Research Institute, Jehangir Hospital, Pune, India.
Insights
Wrist circumference percentiles were established for Indian children aged 3-18. The 70th percentile is proposed as a screening tool for hypertension risk in children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Public Health
- Anthropometry
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing global health concern.
- Wrist circumference is a novel, easily measurable parameter for identifying children at risk of obesity-related conditions like hypertension and insulin resistance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish age and gender-specific wrist circumference percentiles for Indian children aged 3-18.
- To evaluate the correlation between wrist circumference and obesity indicators (BMI, body fat percentage) and blood pressure.
- To propose age and gender-specific wrist circumference cut-offs for hypertension risk screening in Indian children.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 10,199 healthy Indian children (3-18 years) from five major cities.
- Measurements included height, weight, waist circumference, wrist circumference, and blood pressure.
- Body composition was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA); percentiles were calculated using the LMS method.
Main Results:
- Average wrist circumference increased from 10.0-10.4 cm at age 3 to 13.9-15.1 cm at age 18 for girls and boys, respectively.
- Indian children exhibited smaller wrist circumferences compared to Caucasian children.
- Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis identified the 70th percentile of wrist circumference as a risk indicator for hypertension.
Conclusions:
- Reference percentile curves for wrist circumference in Indian children (3-18 years) are now available.
- The 70th percentile of wrist circumference is recommended as a screening cut-off for cardiometabolic risk factors, particularly hypertension, in this population.
Background:
Childhood obesity and its consequences have reached alarming proportions worldwide and in India. Wrist circumference is emerging as an easily measurable reproducible parameter for screening children at risk of obesity-related morbidities such as hypertension and insulin resistance. The objectives of this study were: (1) to compute age and gender-specific wrist circumference percentiles for 3-18-year-old apparently healthy Indian children and adolescents; (2) to assess the relationship of wrist circumference with measures of obesity and adiposity such as body mass index (BMI), fat percentage and blood pressure (BP) and (3) to suggest age and gender-specific cut-offs for wrist circumference percentile for the risk of hypertension in Indian children and adolescents.
Methods:
This was a cross-sectional study on samples of 10,199 3-18-year-old children (5703 boys) from randomly selected schools from five major cities in India. Height, weight, waist and wrist circumference and BP were recorded. Body composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Wrist circumference percentiles were computed using the LMS method.
Results:
The average wrist circumference of boys and girls was 10.4 cm and 10.0 cm at 3 years and increased to 15.1 cm and 13.9 cm, respectively, at 18 years. Compared to their Caucasian counterparts, Indian children's wrists were smaller. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis derived the 70th percentile of wrist circumference as the cut-off for identifying the risk of hypertension.
Conclusions:
Contemporary cross-sectional reference percentile curves for wrist circumference for 3-18-year-old Indian children are presented. The 70th percentile of the current study is proposed as the cut-off to screen children for cardiometabolic risk factors such as hypertension.
Related Concept Videos
01:03Inertial Frames of Reference
01:27Non-inertial Frames of Reference
01:26Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
01:17Chemical Shift: Internal References and Solvent Effects
The internal reference compound generally used in NMR spectroscopy is tetramethylsilane (TMS). TMS is preferred because it is chemically inert, soluble in NMR solvents, and easily removable. Also, the highly shielded methyl protons in TMS yield an intense...
02:44Heating and Cooling Curves
For instance, the addition of heat raises the temperature of a solid; the amount of heat absorbed depends on the heat capacity of the solid (q = mcsolidΔT). According to thermochemistry, the relation between the amount of heat absorbed or released by a substance, q, and its...
02:23Acid-Base Titration Curves
For a titration carried out for 25.00 mL of...