A study found that waist circumference-to-height ratio (WHtR) is a better predictor of fat mass (FM) in pediatric patients compared to body mass index (BMI). The study included 7,237 9-year-old children and found that WHtR remained relatively stable over time while BMI increased. WHtR had better agreement with total FM and trunk FM compared to BMI. The study suggests that using WHtR as a measure of adiposity could be useful in updating childhood obesity guidelines and policy statements. The study found that the average WHtR in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood is 0.45, which does not vary with age or among individuals like BMI.
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Waist-to-height ratio bests BMI for predicting fat mass in children
