Anthropometric Assessment of Abdominal Obesity and Health Risk in Children and Adolescents



Status:Completed
Conditions:Obesity Weight Loss
Therapuetic Areas:Endocrinology
Healthy:No
Age Range:5 - 18
Updated:4/21/2016
Start Date:January 2010
End Date:August 2011

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Childhood obesity is a major public health issue, and the identification of children who are
at increased risk of health problems due to their obesity is a priority for modern health
care. Abdominal fat is considered to be the most harmful in the body, and the development of
reliable landmarks and procedures for the assessment of intra-abdominal visceral adipose
tissue and total body fat in children will have a major impact on 1) the early
identification of children at elevated health risk, 2) the proper prioritization of health
care resources, and 3) the standardization of obesity surveillance procedures within and
between countries.

Abdominal fat, in particular intra-abdominal visceral adipose tissue, is considered to be
the most dyslipidemic and atherogenic fat depot in the human body. Intra-abdominal visceral
adipose tissue and total body fat can be measured precisely and reliably in a laboratory
setting using advanced imaging techniques; however, reliable clinical measurements of
pediatric intra-abdominal visceral adipose tissue and total body fat are yet to be
developed. Thus, the specific aims of this study are to 1) identify reliable landmarks and
methodology for the measurement of pediatric waist circumference that are associated with
intra-abdominal visceral adipose tissue and total body fat across the pediatric age, total
body adiposity, and maturity range among African American and Caucasian children and
adolescents, 2) determine if waist circumference in combination with other anthropometric
indices is a better predictor of intra-abdominal visceral adipose tissue and total body fat
than waist circumference alone across the pediatric age, total body adiposity, and
maturation range, and 3) develop and determine the clinical utility of pediatric
race-sex-specific waist circumference thresholds for the identification of elevated chronic
disease risk factors across the pediatric age, total body adiposity, and maturation range.
The investigators will accomplish these aims by conducting a cross-sectional study of 100
African American boys, 100 Caucasian boys, 100 African American girls, and 100 Caucasian
girls 5 to 18 years of age. Waist circumference will be measured at the four common anatomic
sites used in pediatric research: 1) superior border of the iliac crest, 2) midpoint between
the iliac crest and the lowest rib, 3) umbilicus, and 4) minimal waist. Additional body
dimensions will be obtained in order to determine the clinical utility of combining waist
circumference with other measurements in predicting intra-abdominal visceral adipose tissue
and total body fat, which will be assessed using advanced imaging techniques. The
identification of the most appropriate waist circumference landmarks and measurement
techniques is important for the clinical identification of children at elevated
obesity-related health risk and for the standardization of obesity surveillance strategies
within and between countries.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Being between the ages of 5 and 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

- Being unwilling or unable to communicate with study staff or provide informed consent

- Having a chronic medical condition or disease that is life threatening or would
interfere with the measurements in this study

- Being pregnant
We found this trial at
1
site
6400 Perkins Rd
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808
(225) 763-2500
Pennington Biomedical Research Center Unlike other medical research facilities where science occurs in separate labs...
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Baton Rouge, LA
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