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. 2012 Jul 10;184(10):E539–E550. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.110797

Table 4:

Comparison of the areas under the curves between the CDC and WHO BMI percentiles to predict cardiometabolic risk

Risk factor Area under the curve

9-year-olds
n = 779
13-year-olds
n = 816
16-year-olds
n = 871



CDC WHO p value* CDC WHO p value* CDC WHO p value*
Total cholesterol ≥ 4.4 mmol/L

Boys 0.58 0.58 0.3 0.53 0.54 0.3 0.62 0.62 1.0

Girls 0.52 0.52 0.3 0.51 0.51 0.3 0.48 0.48 0.3

HDL cholesterol < 1.0 mmol/L

Boys 0.53 0.53 0.7 0.64 0.64 0.3 0.58 0.58 1.0

Girls 0.69 0.69 0.6 0.70 0.70 0.05 0.51 0.51 0.3

LDL cholesterol ≥ 2.6 mmol/L

Boys 0.59 0.59 1.0 0.52 0.52 0.3 0.60 0.60 0.3

Girls 0.55 0.55 1.0 0.54 0.54 1.0 0.55 0.55 1.0

Triglycerides ≥ 1.7 mmol/L

Boys 0.89 0.89 0.7 0.87 0.86 0.05 0.80 0.80 0.3

Girls 0.83 0.83 0.3 0.61 0.61 0.6 0.55 0.54 0.05

Systolic blood pressure n = 772 n = 811 n = 870

Boys 0.61 0.61 0.3 0.63 0.63 0.05 0.64 0.64 0.3

Girls 0.71 0.71 0.3 0.70 0.70 1.0 0.67 0.67 0.3

Diastolic blood pressure

Boys 0.71 0.72 0.1 0.52 0.52 1

Girls 0.53 0.53 0.7 0.61 0.61 0.1

Insulin§ n = 706 n = 723 n = 812

Boys 0.77 0.77 0.3 0.74 0.74 0.3 0.75 0.74 0.3

Girls 0.77 0.77 1.0 0.69 0.69 1.0 0.73 0.73 0.3

Glucose ≥ 5.6 mmol/L n = 779 n = 816 n = 871

Boys 0.65 0.65 0.6 0.57 0.57 0.3 0.49 0.49 1.0

Girls 0.66 0.66 0.1 0.57 0.57 0.3 0.56 0.56 1.0

Cardiometabolic abnormalities

1

 Boys 0.51 0.51 0.3 0.49 0.49 1.0 0.42 0.42 1.0

 Girls 0.53 0.53 0.3 0.47 0.47 1.0 0.44 0.44 1.0

2

 Boys 0.67 0.66 0.6 0.60 0.60 0.3 0.52 0.52 1.0

 Girls 0.66 0.66 1.0 0.56 0.56 1.0 0.62 0.62 1.0

≥ 3

 Boys 0.88 0.88 0.8 0.76 0.76 0.6 0.78 0.78 0.3

 Girls 0.84 0.84 0.3 0.78 0.78 0.3 0.76 0.76 0.3

Note: BMI = body mass index, CDC = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HDL = high-density lipoprotein, LDL = low-density lipoprotein, WHO = World Health Organization.

*

Reported p values are for the differences in the discriminative ability between the CDC and WHO growth curves using a continuity correction to account for the nonindependence of the observations.

Unfavourable blood pressure ≥ 90th percentile for age, height and sex as defined by the National High Blood Pressure Education Program.

There were too few cases of unfavourable diastolic blood pressure (≥ 90th percentile) for 9-year-old girls and 13-year-old boys to calculate areas under the curve.

§

Insulin ≥ 38 pmol/L (9-year-olds) or ≥ 60 pmol/L (13- and 16-year-olds).

Versus no abnormalities. Missing values were assumed to be normal.