Alex Pinheiro Gordia

Utility of body mass index, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio as screening tools for hyperglycemia in young people

Objectives To evaluate the ability of BMI, WC and WHtR to discriminate hyperglycemia in young people, and to determine whether there is an increase in the accuracy with the addition of WC and/or WHtR to BMI. Subjects and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,139 schoolchildren aged 6 to 17 years from Northeastern Brazil. Body weight, height, WC and fasting glucose levels were measured, and the BMI and WHtR were calculated. The presence of hyperglycemia was defined as a fasting glucose level ≥ 100 mg/dL. Results The prevalence of hyperglycemia was 6.6%. Strong correlations were observed between the anthropometric indicators studied (BMI vs. WC = 0.87; BMI vs. WHtR = 0.87; WC vs. WHtR = 0.90). Hyperglycemia was more likely to be present in young people with excess weight (PR = 1.70), high WC (PR = 1.85), and high WHtR (PR = 1.91). The accuracies to discriminate hyperglycemia were significant, but low, for the individual (BMI = 0.56; WC = 0.53; WHtR = 0.55) and combined indicators (BMI + WC = 0.55; BMI + WHtR = 0.55). Conclusion Our findings do not support the use of BMI, WC or WHtR as screening tools for hyperglycemia in children and adolescents.

Cut-off values for step count and TV viewing time as discriminators of hyperglycaemia in Brazilian children and adolescents

Abstract Background: The use of step count and TV viewing time to discriminate youngsters with hyperglycaemia is still a matter of debate. Aim: To establish cut-off values for step count and TV viewing time in children and adolescents using glycaemia as the reference criterion. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1044 schoolchildren aged 6–18 years from Northeastern Brazil. Daily step counts were assessed with a pedometer over 1 week and TV viewing time by self-report. Results: The area under the curve (AUC) ranged from 0.52–0.61 for step count and from 0.49–0.65 for TV viewing time. The daily step count with the highest discriminatory power for hyperglycaemia was 13 884 (sensitivity = 77.8; specificity = 51.8) for male children and 12 371 (sensitivity = 55.6; specificity = 55.5) and 11 292 (sensitivity = 57.7; specificity = 48.6) for female children and adolescents respectively. The cut-off for TV viewing time with the highest discriminatory capacity for hyperglycaemia was 3 hours/day (sensitivity = 57.7–77.8; specificity = 48.6–53.2). Conclusion: This study represents the first step for the development of criteria based on cardiometabolic risk factors for step count and TV viewing time in youngsters. However, the present cut-off values have limited practical application because of their poor accuracy and low sensitivity and specificity.

Influência da frequência da caminhada na saúde de indivíduos com doenças crônicas

AbstractIntroduction:The influence of frequency of walking on the health of participantsin intervention programs is still little studied.Objective:To evaluat...