Waist-To-Height Ratio in Assessing Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Affluent School Going Children

Introduction: Childhood obesity is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among children and adolescents, and is responsible for a growing proportion of global health burden. It will lead to drastic complications if left unattended and waist to height ratio is simple and easily performable procedure even by non-medical staff in early detection of cardiometabolic risk. To study Waist circumference to height ratio (WHtR) in early detection of cardiometabolic risk factors in school children and educating parents about cardiometabolic risk in obesity. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in children aged between 11 to 17 years in affluent schools of Bangalore from January 2018 to May 2019. Weight, Height, BMI, waist circumference was measured as per the standard protocol and those with WHtR >0.5 were investigated for cardiometabolic risk factors. The parameters recorded were Blood pressure, FBS, HbA1c, HDL, LDL, Cholesterol, VLDL by standard methods. The results were analyzed and correlation of WHtR along with altered biochemical parameters were studied.Results: A total of 1577 children were included in the study, out of which 702 (44.5%) were boys and 875(55.5%) were girls. The mean age was 14.4±0.2 years. 280(17.8%) children had abnormal WHtR (>0.5). Area under the ROC curve for waist to height ratio among the children who had WHtR >0.5 was 78.4% which is good predictor of obesity and many of the children had abnormal biochemical parameters.Conclusion: Waist to height ratio is a significant anthropometric screening parameter that can be used in early identification of cardiometabolic risk factor in affluent school children and for those with WHtR >0.5 needs parental education and proper lifestyle modification and periodic cardiometabolic assessment