Human Nutrition Laboratory, Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
Swiss Med Wkly. 2011 Jul 1;141:w13227. doi: 10.4414/smw.2011.13227. eCollection 2011.
Central obesity, measured as waist circumference (WC), is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes already in children. The ratio of waist circumference to height (WHtR) is a further indicator for body shape. International reference values, however, do not exist for any of the two measures and neither do references specific to Switzerland. The aim of this study therefore was to develop WC and WHtR percentiles from a nationally representative sample of Swiss children.
In a nationally representative sample of 2,303 6 to 13 year old children in Switzerland weight, height and WC were measured and body fat % (%BF) was determined from multiple skinfold-thickness measurements. WC, WHtR and % BF percentiles were calculated using the LMS-Method of Cole and Green.
WC increases almost linearly over the age range of 6 to 13 years for both boys and girls. Generally, girls show slightly lower WC than boys, but in the higher percentiles (85th, 90th and 95th) they reach the same or even slightly higher values around 10 years of age. At the 85th percentile for boys and the 90th percentile for girls, WHtR remains constant over the entire age range. Above these levels the ratio increases and below it decreases with age. Percentiles for %BF in boys increase constantly up to an age of 11.5 years, after which they plateau. For girls, the plateau can be seen earlier, around 10.5 years, but at 12.5 years another increase begins.
These first WC and WHtR percentiles may be useful for clinical and epidemiological use in Switzerland until official, validated references become available. An advantage in using WHtR seems to be that it is not age dependent at certain levels and it may therefore be possible to use a single cut-off value for all children.
腰围（WC）作为中心性肥胖的衡量标准，是儿童患心血管疾病和糖尿病的重要危险因素。腰围与身高的比值（WHtR）是反映体型的另一个指标。然而，这两种测量方法都没有国际参考值，瑞士也没有特定的参考值。因此，本研究旨在制定瑞士全国代表性儿童的 WC 和 WHtR 百分位数。
在瑞士一个具有全国代表性的 2303 名 6 至 13 岁儿童的样本中，测量了体重、身高和 WC，并通过多次皮褶厚度测量确定了体脂肪百分比（%BF）。使用 Cole 和 Green 的 LMS 方法计算 WC、WHtR 和 %BF 的百分位数。
WC 在男孩和女孩的 6 至 13 岁年龄段几乎呈线性增长。一般来说，女孩的 WC 略低于男孩，但在较高的百分位数（第 85、90 和 95 百分位），她们在 10 岁左右达到相同甚至略高的值。在男孩的第 85 百分位和女孩的第 90 百分位，WHtR 在整个年龄段保持不变。在这些水平之上，比值随年龄增加而增加，在这些水平之下，比值随年龄减小而减小。男孩的 %BF 百分位数在 11.5 岁之前持续增加，之后趋于平稳。对于女孩，在 10.5 岁之前可以更早地达到平稳，但是在 12.5 岁时又开始增加。
在官方、经过验证的参考值可用之前，这些首次制定的 WC 和 WHtR 百分位数可能对瑞士的临床和流行病学应用有用。使用 WHtR 的一个优势是，在某些水平上它与年龄无关，因此可能可以为所有儿童使用一个单一的截止值。
