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Updated: Dec 11, 2025
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Developing equations to predict waist circumference measurements based on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Yechiam Ostchega1, Guangyu Zhang2, Qiuping Gu1
1Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, MD.
Purpose:
The purpose of the study was to convert waist circumference (WC) measurements obtained by the World Health Organization (WHO-WC) method to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI-WC) method.
Methods:
During 2016, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey participants aged 20 years and older had two different WC measurements taken (n = 2405). The mean differences in the WC between the NHLBI-WC and WHO-WC measurements were calculated. Multivariable prediction models were developed to predict the NHLBI-WC from the measured WHO-WC. Sensitivity and specificity of the abdominal obesity classification (AOC) were calculated for the measured WHO-WC and the predicted NHLBI-WC. Kappa coefficients were calculated to evaluate the agreements between the AOC derived from the NHLBI-WC and from the WHO-WC and the predicted NHLBI-WC.
Results:
The mean differences between the NHLBI-WC and WHO-WC were 0.8 cm for males and 3.2 cm for females (P ≤ .05). Sensitivity of the AOC for the measured WHO-WC was 93% for males and 87% for females, and the specificity of the AOC was 97% or greater for both genders. Sensitivity and specificity of the AOC for the predicted NHLBI-WC were 95% or greater for both genders. The AOC derived from the predicted NHLBI-WC had higher agreements for both genders.
Conclusions:
The prediction equations provided may be used to predict the NHLBI-WC from the WHO-WC for comparability in WC estimates across studies.
