Waist circumference percentiles for Canadian youth 11-18y of age.

OBJECTIVE

To develop age- and sex-specific waist circumference reference data for Canadian youth.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional population survey.

SETTING

1981 Canada Fitness Survey.

SUBJECTS

Nationally representative sample of 3064 youth (1540 boys and 1524 girls) 11-18 y of age.

INTERVENTIONS

Waist circumference was measured with a flexible anthropometric tape.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Smoothed and weighted 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 95th waist circumference percentiles derived from LMS regression.

RESULTS

Waist circumference increases with age in both boys and girls, and boys have higher values of waist circumference than girls at every age and percentile level.

CONCLUSIONS

These reference data can be used to identify youth with an elevated risk of developing obesity-related disorders and can serve as a baseline for future studies of temporal trends in waist circumference.

SPONSORSHIP

This research was funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (Grant #T4946).