Background: Adolescents with excess body fat and eutrophic had the same metabolic changes expected in obese individuals.

OBJETIVO: Avaliar se a medida da circunferência da cintura e a relação cintura/estatura (RCE) são preditoras de fatores de risco cardiovasculares em adolescentes do sexo feminino. MÉTODOS: Avaliaram-se 113 adolescentes de 14 a 19 anos quanto à antropometria (peso, estatura e circunferência da cintura), parâmetros bioquímicos e clínicos (colesterol total, LDL-C, HDL-C, triglicerídeos, glicemia de jejum, insulina, homeostasis model assessment to assess insulin resistance - HOMA-IR, leptina, homocisteína e pressão arterial). Considerou-se como ponto de corte de obesidade abdominal valores de cintura e RCE>percentil 90. RESULTADOS: As adolescentes com obesidade abdominal apresentaram valores significantemente maiores de triglicerídeos (exceto para a RCE), insulina, HOMA-IR, leptina, pressão arterial sistólica e diastólica; o HDL-C foi mais baixo no grupo com cintura >percentil 90, porém sem significância estatística (p=0,052). CONCLUSÕES: O presente estudo demonstrou que a cintura e a RCE são medidas úteis para identificar adolescentes do sexo feminino com maior risco cardiovascular; contudo, a circunferência da cintura, isoladamente, apresentou melhor desempenho.

OBJECTIVE: To verify the correlation between body fat location measurements with the body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BF%) and height, according to the nutritional status in female adolescents. METHODS: A controlled cross-sectional study was carried out with 113 adolescents (G1: 38 with normal weight, but with high body fat level, G2: 40 with normal weight and G3: 35 overweight) from public schools in Viçosa-MG, Brazil. The following measures were assessed: weight, height, waist circumference (WC), umbilical circumference (UC), hip circumference (HC), thigh circumference, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-thigh ratio (WTR), conicity index (CI), sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD), coronal diameter (CD), central (CS) and peripheral skinfolds (PS). The BF% was assessed by tetrapolar electric bioimpedance. RESULTS: The increase in central fat, represented by WC, UC, WHtR, SAD, CD and CS, and the increase in peripheral fat indicated by HC and thigh circumference were proportional to the increase in BMI and BF%. WC and especially the UC showed the strongest correlations with adiposity. Weak correlation between WHR, WTR, CI and CS/PS with adiposity were observed. The height showed correlation with almost all the fat location measures, being fair or weak with waist measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate colinearity between body mass and total adiposity with central and peripheral adipose tissue. We recommend the use of UC for assessing nutritional status of adolescents, as it showed the highest capacity to predict adiposity in each group, and also showed fair or weak correlation with height.

Waist circumference as an indicator of body fat and metabolic disorders in adolescents: a comparison of four criteria 665Rev Assoc Med Bras 2010; 56(6): 665-9 IntroductIonObesity is defined as excessive body fat and not only overweight. 1 This disorder is increasingly prevalent and in developed countries it is the most frequent pediatric disease. 2 In Brazil, from 1974 to 1997, overweight increased from 4.1% to 13.9% in children and adolescents 3 and it is estimated that 50%-77% of this age group will also have this condition in adulthood. 2 Additionally, excessive weight in childhood and adolescence contributes to a higher incidence of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular causes in adulthood. 4 In adolescence, excess of body fat may be associated with several important metabolic disorders, such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperinsulinemia, which characterize the metabolic syndrome. 5 This association between obesity and metabolic syndrome is even stronger if there is abdominal or central adiposity. 6 This is alarming given that abdominal obesity has been increasing more than overall obesity (assessed by body mass index) among adolescents. 7,8 Recently, there has been an increase in the waist circumference of children and adolescents in the United Kingdom 7 and Spain. 8 In British children, increased waist was higher than BMI in the last 10-20 years, especially in girls. 7 In Zaragoza, Spain, waist circumference values showed an increasing trend in adolescents aged 13 to 14 years, from 1995 to 2000-2002, and

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