Anthropometric indices are accurate predictors of metabolic syndrome in teens

Anthropometric indices are reliable predictors of metabolic syndrome (MetS), but not of cardiovascular risk markers (CRM), in adolescents, reports a recent Brazil study.

Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,069 adolescents (aged 12–17 years; 570 girls), in whom the following anthropometric indices were measured: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHR), conicity index (CoI), body shape index (BSI), adolescence-adjusted BSI and body roundness index (BRI).

Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves showed that in girls, BMI, WC, WHR and BRI were all decently predictive of elevated blood pressure, with areas under the curve (AUC) values ranging from ≥0.6 to <0.7. No anthropometric index was predictive of other CRMs, such as triglycerides, fasting glucose, total cholesterol and insulin resistance.

In contrast, all of the indices examined performed excellently for predicting MetS, with AUC values measuring at or above 0.9.

In boys, ROC curves likewise demonstrated that BMI (AUC, 0.739) and WC (AUC, 0.723) had good predictive value for high blood pressure. WHR, BRI and BSI, on the other hand, were less reliable, but still decent (AUC from ≥0.6 to <0.7). Similar to girls, all anthropometric indices had good to excellent predictive capacity for MetS.

Notably, at the prespecified cutoff values, almost all anthropometric indices showed 100 percent sensitivity for MetS in both girls and boys. The only exception was unadjusted BSI, which had sensitivity values of 80.0 percent and 83.3 percent in girls and boys, respectively.