Usefulness of the Waist Circumference-to-Height Ratio in Screening for Obesity in Korean Children and Adolescents

WC. The influence of age on WHTR was analyzed by the SAS program. Results: The WHTR significantly decreased with age, and had less correlation with age in the 6∼ 18-year-old age group than the 2∼5-year-old age group. Furthermore, the WHTR also had less correlation with age than WC in the 6∼18-year-old age group. The AUC of WHTR in identifying overweight and obesity was significantly higher than the AUC of WC in the 6∼18-year-old age group. The optimal cutoff values were 0.51 in boys and 0.49 in girls for obesity, and 0.48 in boys and 0.47 in girls for overweight, with all having the AUC＞0.9. The optimal cutoff values of WHTR had a higher sensitivity for diagnosing obesity than WC≥90th percentiles. Conclusion: The WHTR is an easy, accurate, and less age-dependent index with high applicability in screening for obesity in children and adolescents. (Korean J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2010; 13: 180∼ 192)