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Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate the validity and usefulness of the waist circumference-to-height ratio (WHtR) in screening for metabolic syndrome in Korean adolescents aged 17~19 years.
Methods
Data (body mass index, waist circumference, and height) and blood samples were obtained from adolescents in A University Hospital in 2011. This study included 554 adolescents (176 boys and 378 girls) aged 17~19 years. Dependent variables were systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBS), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). Using the Pearson's correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis, we measured the WHtR against Body mass index (BMI).
Results
An assessment was carried out of the ability of the 2 indexes to 1) account for the variability in each metabolic risk factor and 2) correctly identify adolescents with metabolic risk factors. The results revealed that the predictive abilities of the waist-to-height ratio index were better values. The waist-to-height ratio showed superior values in predicting concentrations of DBP, FBS, TC, TG and LDL-C. However, BMI showed better values in identifying adolescents with high systolic blood pressure and HDL-C. 3) Normal weight adolescents (BMI: 5th≤BMI<85th percentiles) were divided by WHtR (obesity cutoff value: ≥0.51 in male, ≥0.49 in female). WHtR was better than the BMI index for signaling metabolic risk in the normal-weight adolescents.
Figures and Tables
Table 2
Metabolic Characteristics of the Study Population
p value. Values are means±SD or n (%). p values are from t-tests or chi-square tests for analysis of variance for continuous variables and categorical variables. SBP: systolic blood pressure, DBP: diastolic blood pressure, Ht: height, Wt: weight, BMI: body mass index, WC: waist circumference, WHtR: waist-to-height ratio, FBG: fasting blood glucose, TC: total cholesterol, TG: triglycerides, HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Table 3
Pearson's Correlation between Anthropometric and Metabolic Characteristics
Data are correlation coefficients. *p<0.05, †p<0.01, ‡p<0.001. BMI: body mass index, WHtR: waist-to-height ratio, SBP: systolic blood pressure, DBP: diastolic blood pressure, FBG: fasting blood glucose, TC: total cholesterol, TG: triglycerides, HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Table 4
Clinical Features, Prevalence of Metabolic Risks, in Normal BMI Adolescents Aged 17~19 Years Classified by WHtR
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