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. 2021 Nov;75(11):1654-1660.
doi: 10.1038/s41430-021-00879-5. Epub 2021 Mar 1.

Neck circumference cut-offs for overweight and obesity in a group of Mexican adolescents

María Del Carmen Iñarritu-Pérez  1   2 , Martha Kaufer-Horwitz  3 , Liria Yamamoto-Kimura  1 , Cristina Morán-Álvarez  1 , Guadalupe Alvear-Galindo  1 , Alejandra Moreno-Altamirano  1 , Verónica Cruz-Licea  1
Affiliations

Neck circumference cut-offs for overweight and obesity in a group of Mexican adolescents

María Del Carmen Iñarritu-Pérez et al. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Background/objectives: Neck circumference (NC) has been used for screening overweight/obesity for its high correlation with age, weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC). Cut-offs should be population specific. The aim of the study was to obtain cut-offs of NC for overweight/obesity in Mexican adolescents and to correlate them with anthropometric indicators.

Subjects/methods: Weight, height, BMI, NC, WC, and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 465 12-14-year-old Mexican-mestizo students attending a public school in Mexico City were assessed. Using receiver operating characteristics analyses, neck cut-offs were obtained according to the WHO age and sex criteria for overweight/obesity.

Results: NC cut-offs with the highest sensitivity and specificity for males and females, respectively, were as follows: 30.0 and 29.3 cm for 12-year-olds; 31.9 and 30.4 cm for 13-year-olds; and, 33.5 and 30.7 cm for 14-year-old adolescents. Overweight/obesity was identified with NC cut-offs in 80% of males and 86% of females, and showed significant correlations (p < 0.01) in males and females with weight (r = 0.821 and r = 0.840, respectively), BMI (r = 0.649 and r = 0.819, respectively), WC (r = 0.710 and r = 0.813, respectively) and MUAC (r = 0.736 and r = 0.815, respectively).

Conclusions: Neck circumference may be used as a first-stage screening tool or jointly with BMI to identify overweight/obesity in 12-14-year-old Mexican adolescents.

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References

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