Waist to height ratio: a simple screening tool for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children

Abstract

Özhan B, Ersoy B, Özkol M, Kiremitci S, Ergin A. Waist to heightratio: a simple screening tool for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in obesechildren. Turk J Pediatr 2016; 58: 518-523.Simple predictors are needed for the screening of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) in obese children. We aimed to assess the role of anthropometricparameters in the prediction of NAFLD. Three hundred and thirty two obesechildren (152 male, 180 female) aged 4.6-17.0 years were included in thisstudy. Weight, height, waist (WC), and hip circumference were measured.Body mass index (BMI), waist-hip-ratio (WHR), and waist-height-ratio (WHtR)were calculated. Obesity was defined as BMI for age and sex >= 95th percentile.NAFLD was diagnosed using ultrasonography (US). NAFLD was present in60.8% of obese children. Fatty liver prevalence differed significantly by genderand puberty (55.0% of girls vs 67.7% of boys, and 28.7% in prepubertal vs71.3% in pubertal children; p