OBJECTIVE: To assess the performance of central obesity indicators by correlation and agreement considering the body mass index in the nutritional assessment of adolescents according to sex and age. METHODS: Cross-sectional census study with 635 adolescents, aged 10-19 years (342 males and 293 females), studying in a public school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Study variables were body mass index (BMI), waist and abdominal circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, nutritional status, sex and age. Univariate and multivariate analyses adjusted by stratification were developed. RESULTS: Waist and abdominal circumferences and BMI were positively and significantly correlated to sex, age group and nutritional status (p < 0.05). For the waist-to-hip ratio, co-relation variation was also influenced by age (p < 0.05). Waist and abdominal circumferences depended on BMI values in all groups (R² = 0.66-0.80, positive ²), which did not occur in waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio. Only the waist circumference showed moderate agreement with BMI (Kappa: 0.41-0.57) in all groups, while for the remaining indicators this agreement ranged from poor to moderate. CONCLUSIONS: Among the central obesity indicators analyzed, waist and abdominal circumferences showed the best performances, but waist circumference was the most adequate to be used in addition to BMI in the nutritional assessment of adolescents.
Adolescence; Nutritional assessment; Obesity; Central obesity; Nutritional indicators
