Correlations of morphometric measures of fatness with biochemical markers of cardiometabolic risk

Introduction: high prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors has been reported globally over the last decade. as childhood cardiometabolic risks have been found to be associated with adult chronic metabolic and cardiovascular disease,assessment of such risks in routine pediatric care is necessary. the author has compared weight,body mass index,waist circumference,waist-height ratio,and waist-hip ratio regarding their correlation with biochemical markers of cardiometabolic risk. methods: eighty five children ranging in age from six to twelve years were examined,height,weight,waist circumference,and blood pressure were measured. investigation requests for fasting plasma glucose,and fasting lipid profile,including total cholesterol,high density lipoprotein cholesterol,low density lipoprotein cholesterol,and triglycerides,were given. correlation coefficients of clinical measures with laboratory markers are computed and compared. results: correlation coefficients of waist circumference,weight,and bmi (r = .426,.393,and .375 respectively) with triglyceride-hdl ratio do not differ significantly compared with that of waist-height ratio (r = .346),although waist circumference claims the largest coefficient. waist-hip ratio had a significantly lower coefficient than waist-height ratio (r = .146 v/s .346,p = .02) conclusion: waist circumference is the best measure of central adiposity for routine clinical use in pediatric care. © 2014,pakistan pediatric journal. all rights reserved.