Waist to height ratio: A simple screening tool for nonalcoholifatty liver disease in obese children

Özhan B, Ersoy B, Özkol M, Kiremitci S, Ergin A. Waist to height ratio: a simple screening tool for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children. 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 anthropometric parameters in the prediction of NAFLD. Three hundred and thirty two obese children (152 male, 180 female) aged 4.6-17.0 years were included in this study. 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 in 60.8% of obese children. Fatty liver prevalence differed significantly by gender and puberty (55.0% of girls vs 67.7% of boys, and 28.7% in prepubertal vs 71.3% in pubertal children; p