Biology and Medicine

Abstract

Distribution of Sitting Height Ratio and its Association with Body Mass Index among Children and Adolescents in Shandong, China

Ying-xiu Zhang, Zun-hua Chu and Jin-shan Zhao

Background: Sitting height ratio (SHR) is a useful parameter for assessing body proportion in clinical practice and other related fields. However, its association with body mass index (BMI) and obesity among children and adolescents is limited.

Methods: Data for this study were obtained from a large cross-sectional survey of schoolchildren. A total of 42 348 students (21 248 boys and 21 100 girls) aged 7–18 years participated in this study. SHR was calculated as sitting height (SH) divided by total height. The BMI cutoff points recommended by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) were used to define overweight and obesity.

Results: Children and adolescents aged 7–18 years in the ‘high SHR’ group (≥75th) had higher BMI than those in the ‘low SHR’ group (<25th) in all age groups (P<0.01), the range of differences being 1.28–1.55 kg/m2 for boys, and 1.06–1.90 kg/m2 for girls. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity were 13.40% and 4.28% for boys, and 8.11% and 1.18% for girls in the ‘low SHR’ group, the corresponding figures were 19.69% and 9.45% for boys, and 14.06% and 3.68% for girls in the ‘high SHR’ group, the latter is significantly higher than the former (P<0.01).

Conclusion: High SHR is associated with overweight and obesity, considering the adverse health effects of obesity, individuals with high SHR should be given special attention.