Table 1.
Characteristics of the five studies that assessed the correlation of both body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WtHr) with body fat (BF) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).
| Authors (Year) | Design | Simple Characteristics | Age (Years) | Mean %BF (SD) | Fat Mass Assessment | BMI or WtHr | Results * | Other Findings | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R2 (95%CI) | Beta Coefficient | AUC | ||||||||
| Barreira, T.V., et al. (2014) [27] | Cross-sectional | N = 382; 180 boys (84 African Americans (AA) & 96 Whites) and 202 girls (118 AA & 84 Whites). | 5–18 | Boys: Whites: 24.0 (9.1) AA: 24.0 (10.0) Girls: Whites: 31.1 (8.4) AA: 31.8 (9.6) |
Total fat mass (kg) | BMI | 0.91 (0.89–0.93) | Significant linear relationship | No significant interaction with race or sex. | |
| WtHr | 0.69 (0.64–0.74) | Significant linear relationship | Significant interaction race and sex. | |||||||
| Brambilla, P., et al. (2013) [28] | Cross-sectional (US-NHANES 2003–2004) | N= 2339; 1221 boys (326 Whites, 453 Blacks, 373 Mexicans, 69 other races) & 1118 girls (321 Whites, 387 Blacks, 348 Mexicans, 62 other races). | 8–18 | Whites: 29.0 (7.7) Blacks: 26.0 (8.3) Mexicans: 29.8 (7.7) Others: 28.3 (7.8) |
%BF | BMI | 0.32 (0.29–0.35) (unadjusted) 0.68 (age & sex) 0.70 (age, sex & race) |
Found no practical advantage to add the ethnic group as further predictor in the model. | ||
| WtHr | 0.64 (0.62–0.66) (unadjusted) 0.80 (age & sex) 0.80 (age, sex & race) |
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| Karlsson, A.-K., et al. (2013) [25] | Cross-sectional | N = 100; 55 boys and 45 girls, moderately preterm at birth. | 4.9–5.2 | Boys: 17 (6) Girls: 21 (6) |
Total fat mass (kg) | BMI | 0.76 (0.66–0.83) | |||
| WtHr | 0.55 (0.41–0.67) | |||||||||
| De Miguel-Etayo, P., et al. (2015) [26] | Longitudinal (EVASYON treatment program) [30] | N = 83; 43 boys and 40 girls, overweight or obese [32] | 13–16 | Boys: 33.3 (31.5–35.1) Girls: 39.9 (37.9–41.9) |
Changes in FMI. | Changes in BMI | Boys: 0.77 (0.61–0.87) Girls: 0.90 (0.82–0.95) |
Boys: 0.68, Girls: 0.66 (unadjusted) Boys: 0.68, Girls: 0.66 (age) Boys: 0.68, Girls: 0.65 (age and Tanner) |
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| Changes in WtHr | Boys: 0.50 (0.27–0.70) Girls: 0.49 (0.24–0.69) |
Boys: 33.91, Girls: 19.04 (crude model) Boys: 33.57, Girls: 18.37 (age) Boys: 33.61, Girls: 18.53 (age and Tanner) |
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| Tuan, N.T., et al. (2014) [29] | Cross-sectional (US-NHANES 2001–2004) | N= 5355; 2792 boys (796 Whites, 962 Blacks, 818 Mexicans, 216 other races) & 2563 girls (742 Whites, 809 Blacks, 809 Mexicans, 203 other races). | 8–19 | Boys: Whites: 25.7 (0.5) Blacks: 22.8 (0.2) Mexican: 27.3 (0.3) Girls: Whites: 32.5 (0.4) Blacks: 31.5 (0.3) Mexican: 33.7 (0.3) |
z-score of the %BF Obesity was defined as %BF by DEXA > 75th age & sex specific percentile (26%–33% in boys & 36%–38% in girls) [31]. | z-score of the BMI | Boys: 0.62 (0.60–0.64) Girls: 0.67 (0.65-0.69) |
Boys: 0.79 Girls: 0.82 (z-BMI) (all races) |
Boys: 0.91 Girls: 0.90 (all races) |
Kappa + Boys: 0.59 Girls: 0.60 (all races) Sex and ethnicity-race variations. |
| z-score of the WtHr | Boys: 0.73 (0.71–0.75) Girls: 0.70 (0.68–0.72) |
Boys: 0.86 Girls: 0.84 (z-WtHr) (all races) |
Boys: 0.97 Girls: 0.94 (all races) |
Kappa + Boys: 0.71 Girls: 0.64 (all races) Sex and ethnicity-race variations. |
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* Adjusting factors appear in brackets; + Weighted Kappa for the agreement between quartiles; This study reported Pseudo-R2 instead of R2; and %BF was reported as median (interquartile range); SD: standard deviation; SE: standard error; BMI: body mass index; WtHr: waist-to-height ratio; R2: coefficient of determination; AUC: Area under the curve; DEXA: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; %BF: body fat percentage; FMI: Fat mass index; NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.