Diagnostic performance of neck circumference to identify overweight and obesity as defined by body mass index in children and adolescents: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: The neck circumference (NC) has been shown to be an accurate index for screening overweight and obesity in children and adolescents.

Aim: To perform a meta-analysis to assess the performance of NC for the assessment of overweight and obesity.

Subjects and methods: Data sources were PubMed and EMBASE up to March 2016. Studies providing measures of diagnostic performance of NC and using body mass index as reference standard were included.

Results: Six eligible studies that evaluated 11 214 children and adolescents aged 6–18 years were included in the meta-analysis. NC showed pooled sensitivity to detect high body mass index of 0.780 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.765–0.794), specificity of 0.746 (95% CI =  0.736–0.756) and a diagnostic odds ratio of 17.343 (95% CI =  8.743–34.405).

Conclusions: The NC had moderate diagnostic accuracy for identifying overweight and obesity in children and adolescents.

Keywords:

• Obesity
• children
• adolescent
• neck circumference
• meta-analysis

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.