Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2012 Dec;7(6):e81-5.
doi: 10.1111/j.2047-6310.2012.00088.x. Epub 2012 Sep 19.

Comparison of two waist circumference measurement protocols: the SEARCH for diabetes in youth study

D J Pettitt  1 , J W Talton, A D Liese, L L Liu, N Crimmins, N A West, R B D' Agostino Jr, H S Kahn; SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of two waist circumference measurement protocols: the SEARCH for diabetes in youth study

D J Pettitt et al. Pediatr Obes. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Reports comparing waist circumference (WC) measurements from young populations are scarce.

Objectives: We compared two protocols for measuring waist circumference in a sample of youth with diabetes.

Methods: Participants were enrolled in the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study (SEARCH). WC was measured at least twice by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) protocol and twice by the World Health Organization (WHO) protocol. Method-specific averages were used in these analyses.

Results: Among 6248 participants, the mean NHANES WC (76.3 cm) was greater than the mean WHO WC (71.9 cm). Discrepancies between protocols were greater for females than males, among older participants, and in those with higher body mass index (BMI). In both sexes and four age strata, the WCs using either method were highly correlated with BMI z-score. The within-method differences between the first and second measurements were similar for the two methods.

Conclusions: These analyses do not provide evidence that one of these two methods is more reproducible or is a better indicator of obesity as defined by BMI z-scores.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Lean MEJ, Han TS, Deurenberg P. Predicting body composition by densitometry from simple anthropometric measurements. Am J Clin Nutr. 1996;63:4–14. - PubMed
    1. Brambilla P, Bedogni G, Moreno LA, et al. Crossvalidation of anthropometry against magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue in children. Intl J Obes. 2006;30:23–30. - PubMed
    1. Schneider HJ, Glaesmer H, Klotsche J, et al. DETECT Study Group Accuracy of anthropometric indicators of obesity to predict cardiovascular risk. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007;92:589–594. - PubMed
    1. Yusef S, Hawken S, Ôunpuu S, et al. INTERHEART Study Investigators Obesity and the risk of myocardial infarction in 27000 participants from 52 countries: a case-control study. Lancet. 2005;366:1640–1649. - PubMed
    1. Okosun IS, Liao Y, Rotimi CN, Choi S, Cooper RS. Predictive values of waist circumference for dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and hypertension in overweight White, Black, and Hispanic American adults. J Clin Epidemiol. 2000;53:401–408. - PubMed

Publication types