Circunferencia de cuello como indicador de sobrepeso y obesidad en escolares de la Unidad Educativa “Primero de Mayo”, Puyo. 2022

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between neck circumference, overweight and obesity in schoolchildren who attend the Educative Unit “Primero de Mayo” from Puyo. The study was cross-sectional descriptive, in which 220 children from six to ten years of age participated. General data such as age and sex were obtained; and anthropometric data such as weight, height and neck circumference (NC). A descriptive and inferential analysis of the data was carried out with the WHO Anthroplus, Jamovi, and PSPP programs. To establish the cut-off point for neck circumference (NC), the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, the parameters of the area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, and the Youden index were used. As a result, 42.27% of the students presented excess weight, overweight/obesity. Between the variable body mass index and neck circumference, a direct correlation (0.704) was observed, and the cut-off point for excess weight that was identified was 27.95 centimeters. It is concluded that there is a relationship between neck circumference and overweight and obesity, so this anthropometric measure is a feasible indicator to detect excess weight in schoolchildren. The implementation of the neck circumference is recommended as an anthropometric measure to detect overweight and obesity.