THE EFFECT OF ANTHROPOMETRIC INDICES ON HEIGHT GAIN IN ADOLESCENTS: A CATEGORIZED CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background and Aim: Obesity prevalence is raising concern worldwide, even in children and adolescents that can affect their linear growth through diverse mechanisms. We aimed to compare mean height in adolescents with excess fat mass and their peers with normal fat mass.Methods: This was a categorized cross-sectional study conducted on healthy adolescents. Ninety three adolescents with excess body fat percentage were compared with 93 age- and gender-matched counterparts that had normal body fat percentage. Demographic, height and waist circumference were measured for all participants. Anthropometric indices (obesity traits) were collected by means of Bioelectric Impedance Analysis system in a single study session. Statistical analysis was done by software SPSS (version 16). Results: Ninety three healthy adolescents were included in the category with excess body fat percentage and were compared with 93 matched counterparts with normal body fat percentage. Mean obesity traits were significantly higher in individuals with excess body fat percentage than others.We found an inverse relationship between height and waist circumference (WC) (-0.258; p=0.003; Confidence Interval (CI): -0.330 to -0.070), and also between height and fat mass (-0.361; p<0.001; CI: -0.554 to -0.209). In addition, we found a direct relationship between fat free mass and height (0.902; p<0.001; CI: 0.690 to 0.935) and also between trunk fat and height (0.160; p=0.026; CI: 0.019 to 0.294). Conclusion: Fat distribution is as important as general fat mass to affect linear growth. Total body composition should be considered to assess the effects of obesity on height gain. Further studies warranted this finding

Keywords:

Obesity , Body height , Growth , Adolescent , Body fat distribution