THE EVALUATION OF OBESITY-RELATED CARDIOMETABOLIC DISEASES: A SIMPLE ANTHROPOMETRIC TOOL FOR A COMPLICATED MATTER

Abstract

Introduction. Anthropometric measurements are simple clinical tools that can be used for the evaluation of obesity-related cardiometabolic complications. Objective. To identify obesity-related cardiometabolic outcomes and to compare the relevance of BMI or WHtR for early diagnosis in a group of obese children and adolescents. Material and methods. The study included 174 children diagnosed with simple obesity during a three year period. Anthropometric measurements (including BMI and WHtR) and biochemical variables were analyzed. Results. 4.28% of children were overweight, 31.43% were obese and 64.29% had extreme obesity. The main cardiometabolic complication was insulin resistance (47.76%) followed by hyperinsulinism, alteration of the lipid metabolism and hypertension. All children had a WHtR ≥ 0.5. One Way ANOVA with post-hoc t-test analysis was used for the comparative evaluation of the BMI and WHtR; there were no statistic signifi cant differences between groups. Conclusion. Obesity defi ned by BMI and a WHtR ≥ 0.5 is in the majority of cases associated with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. Both anthropometric indexes should be used as evaluation tools in medical practice, but WHtR has some important advantages.

Keywords

• child obesity
• body mass index
• waist to height ratio
• obesity related cardiometabolic disease