A study on evaluation of waist height ratio as a screening tool for obesity

Introduction:Childhood obesity has become a single marker for children at risk for development of various non-communicable diseases later in life. This study is conducted to estimate the prevalence of obesity and the risk factors associated with it and to evaluate Waist Height Ratio(WHtR)as a screening tool to identify obesity in children. Materials and Methods:Across sectional study of children between 10 and 15 years of age from upper socioeconomic class from 2 urban schools. Results: The prevalence of obesity is 11.7% and prevalence of asymptomatic hypertension is 12%. The Waist height ratio is more than 0.5 in 21.2%. About 50.5% of obese and 40.5% of overweight children had a WtHR of >0.5. Waist Height Ratio correlated significantly with all 5 risk factors taken for the study. Conclusion: The prevalence of obesity in children between 10 to 15 years of age in this study is 11.7%. The Waist Height Ratio correlated significantly with the risk factors. Larger studies specific to Indian children are needed to make a clear cutoff value for WHtR to improve the sensitivity of screening.