Cardiometabolic Risk Assessments by Body Mass Index z-Score or Waist-to-Height Ratio in a Multiethnic Sample of Sixth-Graders

Table 3

Associations comparing standardized BMI 𝑧-score with standardized WHtR for estimating risk variable outcomes among high-fatness students (𝑁 = 2,478).

Risk outcome	Boys (𝑛 = 1,187)					Girls (𝑛 = 1,291)
	BMI 𝑧-score		WHtR^−0.5			BMI 𝑧-score		WHtR^−0.5
	Standardized beta	𝑅^2	Standardized beta	𝑅^2		Standardized beta	𝑅^2	Standardized beta	𝑅^2
	(95% CI)		(95% CI)			(95% CI)		(95% CI)
Log HOMA-IR	0.52	0.277	0.48	0.234		0.47	0.213	0.43	0.195
	(0.48–0.57)		(0.43–0.53)			(0.42–0.52)		(0.38–0.48)
Log Tchol/HDLchol	0.29	0.083	0.29	0.084		0.23	0.057	0.27	0.075
	(0.23–0.34)		(0.24–0.35)			(0.18–0.29)		(0.22–0.33)
Log HDL cholesterol	−0.30	0.092	−0.28	0.077		−0.27	0.075	−0.28	0.079
	(−0.35–−0.24)		(−0.33–−0.22)			(−0.32–−0.21)		(−0.34–−0.23)
Log triglycerides	0.24	0.061	0.24	0.058		0.19	0.037	0.22	0.052
	(0.19–0.29)		(0.18–0.29)			(0.14–0.24)		(0.17–0.27)
Systolic BP^a, mmHg	0.17	0.028	0.10	0.011		0.15	0.021	0.08*	0.006
	(0.11–0.22)		(0.05–0.16)			(0.09–0.20)		(0.03–0.13)
Diastolic BP^a, mmHg	0.32	0.094	0.29	0.088		0.28	0.072	0.23	0.054
	(0.26–0.37)		(0.23–0.34)			(0.22–0.33)		(0.18–0.28)
Glucose, mg/dL	0.04^†	0.001	0.02^†	0.000		0.08*	0.005	0.06*	0.003
	(−0.02–0.10)		(−0.04–0.07)			(0.03–0.13)		(0.01–0.12)

aModels for blood pressures include an additional adjustment for height.
𝑅² is the proportion of variation explained by the adiposity indicator.
All beta coefficients are 𝑃<0.001 with exception of ^∗(𝑃<0.05) and ^†(𝑃>0.05), not significant.
Note that WHtR^−0.5 is equivalent to 1/√WHtR or 1/WHtR^0.5.