Appropriateness of Lower Waist Circumference Cutoffs for Predicting Derangement in Metabolic Parameters Among Asian Children and Adolescents: A Pilot Study.

Waist circumference (WC) >90th percentile cut-off effectively screens children for metabolic syndrome, as some specific metabolic derangements (high fasting serum levels of insulin and triglycerides) may be better associated with lower (70th percentile) waist circumference cut off. We evaluated a subset of children and adolescents found obese or overweight following the anthropometric screening in a school-based survey. Metabolic parameters (fasting insulin levels, fasting blood sugar and fasting lipid profile and blood pressure) were compared among 3 groups of obese or overweight children divided on the basis of WC percentiles (>90th, 70th-90th and 90th (76.9%, 53.8%) as well as in group with WC 70th-90th percentile (38.7%, 41.9%).