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Fat distribution in venezuelan children and adolescents estimated by the conicity index and waist/hip ratio
Author(s) -
Pérez Betty,
LandaetaJiménez Maritza,
Vásquez Maura
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.10002
Subject(s) - waist , demography , waist–hip ratio , hum , anthropometry , index (typography) , body mass index , growth spurt , mathematics , medicine , art history , art , sociology , performance art , world wide web , computer science
This study compares the conicity index (C) with the waist/hip ratio (WHR) in a cross‐sectional sample of Venezuelan children ( n = 784 boys and n = 735 girls), 3 to 16 years of age. Distributions of C and WHR were compared in Box‐plot diagrams. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between indices by age and sex. Conicity captured more outliers in the distribution than WHR and explained 33% to 62% of the variability in WHR in three age groups. The influence was stronger in females during adolescence ( R 2 = 0.60, P < 0.05). According to the principle of C, most children presented a bi‐conical shape, which was more pronounced in boys than girls and which was indicative of a more central distribution of adiposity. These results are related, in part, to age and sex differences in body composition and to the earlier onset of the adolescent growth spurt in Venezuelan children. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 14:15–20, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.