Journal article

Where should we measure waist circumference in clinically overweight and obese youth?

MA Sabin, N Wong, P Campbell, KJ Lee, Z McCallum, GA Werther

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health | WILEY | Published : 2014

Abstract

Aims Waist circumference (WC) measurement is a useful tool in the assessment of overweight/obese individuals, but standard measures may miss an apron of 'overhanging' fat (termed 'panniculus'). The objective of this study was to assess whether, in clinically overweight/obese youth, 'pannicular' WC better correlates with fat mass than a standard WC measurement. Methods Standard and pannicular WC, alongside body composition (BC) measures, were collected from 181 consultations on 127 overweight and obese children/adolescents (52% male; mean (standard deviation) age 12.5 (3.4) years). Correlation coefficients describe associations between WC and measures of BC, and between ΔWC and ΔBC, while lin..

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Grants

Awarded by National Health & Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) Health Professional Training Fellowship


Funding Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the RCH Weight Management Service patients and their families whose consent made this study possible. MA Sabin is supported through a National Health & Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) Health Professional Training Fellowship (APP1012201). All authors from the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute are supported by the Victorian Government Operational Infrastructure Support Program.