Total
(n = 442)
Mean (SD)

Boys
(n = 232)
Mean (SD)

Girls
(n = 210)
Mean (SD)

Age (years)

7.7 (0.4)

7.7 (0.5)

7.6 (0.3)

Weight (kg)

27.3 (5.8)

27.8 (5.5)

26.9 (6.0)

Height (cm)

129.0 (5.6)

129.8 (5.2)

128.2 (5.8)

BMI (kg/m2)

16.3 (2.5)

16.4 (2.4)

16.2 (2.6)

Waist Circumference (WC) (cm)

59.5 (6.3)

60.0 (6.0)

59.0 (6.7)

Waist-to-height ratio
(W/HtR)

0.46 (0.03)

0.46 (0.04)

0.46 (0.03)

Under weight subjects’ BMI (kg/m2)

13.3 (0.5)
(13.3 %)*

13.5 (0.5)
(11.6 %)*

13.2 (0.5)
(15.2 %)*

Normal weight subjects’ BMI (kg/m2)

15.9 (1.0)
(70.8 %)* 

15.9 (1.2)
(71.2 %)*

15.9 (1.4)
(70.6 %)*

Overweight
subjects’ BMI (kg/2)

19.7 (1.0)
(10.9 %)*

19.6 (0.9)
(12.5 %)*

20.0 (1.1)
(9.0 %)*

Obese subjects’ BMI  (kg/m2)

23.5 (1.7)
(5.0 %)*

23.4 (1.5)
(4.7 %)*

23.5 (1.9)
(5.2 %)*
*percentage of subjects in brackets
Table 1: Age and anthropometric measurements of the sample (n=442)

 

Percentiles

BMI

WC

W/HtR

boys

girls

boys

girls

boys

girls

3rd

13.1

12.8

53.0

50.2

0.41

0.40

5th

13.4

13.0

54.0

51.0

0.42

0.40

10th

13.9

13.6

54.0

52.0

0.42

0.41

25th

14.7

14.6

56.0

54.0

0.44

0.43

50th

16.1

15.7

59.0

57.0

0.46

0.45

75th

17.5

17.1

62.0

63.0

0.47

0.48

90th

19.8

19.6

68.0

68.0

0.51

0.52

95th

21.8

22.3

73.0

75.5

0.55

0.55

97th

22.8

22.7

76.0

78.0

0.57

0.56
Table 2: Sex specific percentile values for BMI (kg/m2), WC (cm) and W/HtR in our sample (n=442)

Countries

WC values (cm)
at 50th percentile

Authors

boys

girls

Our study, Pavia, Northern Italy

59.0

57.0

Turconi et al., 2014

Pescara, Central Italy

67.0

69.0

Zannolli et al., 1996 [35]

Switzerland

59.2

58.4

Aeberli et al., 2011 [24]

Germany

58.6

57.2

Schwandt et al., 2008 [37]

United Kingdom

54.7

54.1

McCarthy et al., 2001 [32]

Poland

57.1

55.5

Ostrowska Nawarycz et al., 2010 [30]

Turkey

56.4

54.7

Hatipoglu et al., 2008 [31]

Hong Kong

55.3

53.2

Sung et al., 2008 [23]

Shandong, China

55.8

53.7

Zhang et al., 2013 [22]

United States
(European American Children)

59.6

58.8

Fernandez et al., 2004 [33]

Mexico City
Santiago, Chile

62.5
63.2

60.0
63.7

Gomez-Diaz et al., 2005 [34]
Avalos et al., 2012 [36]

Table 3: WC value at the 50th percentile for both gender in various populations at 8 years of age

Countries

WC values (cm)
at 90th percentile

% of children with
WC > 90th percentile

Authors

boys

girls

boys

girls

Our study, Pavia, Northern Italy

68.0

68.0

 

 

Turconi et al., 2014

Pescara, Central Italy

77.0

79.7

1.8

0.8

Zannolli et al., 1996[35]

Switzerland

67.0

66.4

10.3

11.0

Aeberli et al., 2011[24]

Germany

67.5

65.8

9.5

11.4

Schwandt et al., 2008[37]

United Kingdom

60.9

60.4

28.4

29.8

McCarthy et al., 2001[32]

Poland

66.7

64.2

10.8

15.2

Ostrowska Nawarycz et al., 2010[30]

Turkey

64.4

61.9

16.4

25.2

Hatipoglu et al., 2008[31]

Hong Kong

66.6

61.6

10.1

26.6

Sung et al., 2008[23]

Shandong, China
United States (European American Children)

70.0
71.0

64.0
69.7

6.7
6.5

15.2
7.6

Zhang et al., 2013[22]
Fernandez et al., 2004[33]

Mexico City

79.9

73.8

1.3

5.2

Gomez-Diaz et al., 2005[34]

Santiago (Chile)

77.8

77.9

1.7

1.4

Avalos et al., 2012[36]

Table 4: Percentage of children of Pavia exceeding the WC 90th percentile obtained from various populations at 8 years of age
Figure 1: BMI distribution according to Cole’s reference standard percentiles