Prevalence of Abdominal Obesity in Spanish Children and Adolescents. Do We Need Waist Circumference Measurements in Pediatric Practice?

Abstract

BackgroundEvidence indicates that central adiposity has increased to a higher degree than general adiposity in children and adolescents in recent decades. However, waist circumference is not a routine measurement in clinical practice.ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the prevalence of abdominal obesity based on waist circumferences (WC) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) in Spanish children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years. Further, the prevalence of abdominal obesity (AO) among normal and overweight individuals was analyzed.DesignData were obtained from a study conducted from 1998 to 2000 in a representative national sample of 1521 children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years (50.0% female) in Spain. WC and WHtR measurements were obtained in addition to BMI. AO was defined as WHtR ≥0.50 (WHtR-AO), sex and age specific WC≥90th percentile (WC-AO1), and sex and age specific WC cut-off values associated with high trunk fat measured by by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (WC-AO2).ResultsIOTF- based overweight and obsity prevalence was 21.5% and 6.6% in children and 17.4% and 5.2% in adolescents, respectively. Abdominal obesity (AO) was defined as WHtR≥0.50 (WHtR-AO), sex- and age-specific WC≥90th percentile (WC-AO1), and sex- and age-specific WC cut-off values associated with high trunk fat measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (WC-AO2). The respective prevalence of WHtR-AO, WC-AO1, and WC-AO2 was 21.3% (24.6% boys; 17.9% girls), 9.4% (9.1% boys; 9.7% girls), and 26.8% (30.6% boys;22.9% girls) in children and 14.3% (20.0% boys; 8.7% girls), 9.6% (9.8% boys; 9.5% girls), and 21.1% (28.8% boys; 13.7% girls) in adolescents.ConclusionThe prevalence of AO in Spanish children and adolescents is of concern. The high proportion of AO observed in young patients who are normal weight or overweight indicates a need to include waist circumference measurements in routine clinical practice.

Prevalence of abdominal obesity in adolescents: association between sociodemographic factors and lifestyle

“…The 10.6% prevalence of AO found in this study is below the values found for adolescents in Spain (11.6%)5 and USA (34.7%),1 and similar to those found for South Korean adolescents (8.4%) 1. When compared to studies performed in Brazil, the found prevalence of AO was higher than the values reported for Minas Gerais (Januária) (2.1%)7 and lower than the values reported for Maranhão (22.7%)6 and Curitiba (12.2%) 8.…”

Cumulative Effect of Obesogenic Behaviours on Adiposity in Spanish Children and Adolescents

“…At present, 38.6% of Spanish children and adolescents are overweight or obese [1], and 16.5% have abdominal obesity [2]. The high obesity prevalence is of concern because premature onset of related illnesses such as diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is increased among obese children [3,4].…”

Frecuencia de síndrome metabólico en residentes de una región andina del Perú

“…La obesidad abdominal en el grupo de madres se aproxima a lo encontrado en los Estados Unidos, donde en adultos se ha mantenido alrededor del 50% desde 1999, y en el periodo 2009-2010 dicha prevalencia fue de 46,4% en varones y 65,4% en mujeres (33) . Por otro lado, la magnitud de obesidad abdominal en adolescentes de nuestro estudio (5,6%), es inferior a lo encontrado en adolescentes españoles de 12 a 17 años en quienes se reporta un 11,6% (36) , y en adolescentes norteamericanos de 12 a 18 años en quienes la prevalencia (periodo 2011-2012) fue 22,4% (37) .…”