Anthropometric Indicators to Estimate Percentage of Body Fat: A Comparison Using Cross-Sectional Data of Children and Adolescents in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Objectives To compare the association between waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), body mass index (BMI), and percentage of body fat (PBF) measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) method in children and adolescents of Vietnam. Methods This cross-sectional study included 153 children and adolescents aged 6-18 y old in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Correlations between indicators were determined using Pearson correlation coefficient (r). Linear regression was carried out with PBF as dependent variable to test the further association of potential indicators. Results The strongest correlation was found between PBF and WHtR in all pubertal stages (0.712; 0.556; 0.638 in male; 0.635; 0.799; 0.611 in female, respectively). The regression analysis indicated that WHtR was the most effective estimator of PBF (R-adj(2) = 0.69, RMSE = 4.54 for male; R-adj(2)= 0.50, RMSE = 4.34 for female) in the model including pubertal stage variable for each gender. Conclusions The results support the use of WHtR as an effective indicator for detecting adiposity in Vietnamese children and adolescents.