Sagittal Abdominal Diameter: A Novel Anthropometric Measure for Predicting Visceral Fat and Associated Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children

This study examined sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) in children 12 to 18 years of age, which has been shown in adult populations to be a measure of visceral fat. NHANES 2011-12 data were used (n = 1073) to compare SAD to known cardiovascular disease risk factors. Using linear regression, SAD was directly associated with statistically significant changes in systolic blood pressure (0.73; P \u3c.0001), hemoglobin A1C (A1C) (0.02; P =.001), triglycerides (4.13; P \u3c.0001), insulin (1.87; P \u3c.0001), and inversely associated with statistically significant changes in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-1.32; P \u3c.0001). This study shows a need for SAD to be further evaluated before recommendations for clinical use