Body Mass Index as a Marker of Dyslipidemia in Children

Background: Obesity is very frequently associated with conditions such as dyslipidemia e diabetes. Objective: To verify the diagnostic value of the cut-off points proposed by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and Conde & Monteiro (C&M) for the screening and identification of dyslipidemia in children between 10 and 12 years of age. Methods: The Body Mass index (BMI) of 374 children of the school network of the city of Santa Maria-RS was ascertained. The children were selected in a stratified manner from a population of 4,083 children. Lipid levels (reference standard) were determined by means of analysis of total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C, HDL-C and triglycerides (TG). The cut-off points of the IOTF and C&M were used to classify the BMI. Descriptive statistics and analysis of sensitivity and specificity were employed. Results: There was a statistical difference in excess weight prevalence between both proposals (24.7% and 28.6% for IOTF and C&M, respectively). A variation was observed in sensitivity (33% to 83%) and specificity (62% to 80%) between the CUI-Off points as to) the detection of dyslipidemia. The percentage of false negatives was lower than the percentage of false positives. Conclusion: The proposals may be Used to screen elevated TC and LDL-C in male individuals. Either the IOTF or the C&M classification may be used to identify subjects without dyslipidemia, as these proposals presented high specificity. (Arq Bras Cardiol 2009;93(1):20-24)