Background: Waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) distributions have been described in Chinese pre-school children only in local areas.
Aim: To report reference data of WC and WHtR in a nationally representative sample of Chinese pre-school children.
Subjects and methods: A total of 53,172 children aged 3-7 years were surveyed as part of the 5th National Survey in 2015. WC and WHtR percentile values were calculated for each age- and sex-specific group. Urban-suburban rural differences of WC and WHtR were examined. Comparisons of WC and WHtR with other Chinese studies and foreign studies were assessed.
Results: Eleven conventional percentile values of WC and WHtR were obtained for urban and suburban rural children. Urban-suburban rural differences of WC ranged from -0.2 cm to 0.6 cm for both boys and girls across all age groups and the differences of WHtR ranged from -0.01 to 0.01. Median WC and WHtR curves were generally in the middle of other Chinese studies. Median WC and WHtR curves in China were generally lower than other countries that were compared.
Conclusion: The presented percentile values of WC and WHtR may be useful to monitor growth and development and to assess abdominal fat distribution of younger children.
Keywords: Waist circumference; children; reference data; waist-to-height ratio.