Abstract

Author(s): Munareto Lima, Ticiane Clair Remacre1; Rocha, Vivianne de Sousa2; Cândido de Souza, Márcia Ferreira3

Introduction: Circumference of the neck may be a possible measure for the identification of overweight in adults in clinical practice The objective was determined the cut-off points of neck circumference corresponding to excess weight levels classified by Body Mass Index (BMI).

Method: Cross-sectional study, with adults patients, of both genders, attended in nutrition clinic of Sergipe UniversityHospital. Were collected waist circumference, neck circumference, body weight, height, the latter two used for the determination of BMI. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and the correlation between the numerical variables by the Spearman test. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive capacity of the neck circumference, as well as, the determination of the cut-off points of overweight or obesity (α = 5%).

Results: A total of 323 subjects were evaluted, with a mean age of 40.9 (10.8) years, most (81%) women. For the male and female, respectivamente, neck circumference showed a strong correlation with body weight (r = 0.859, p <0.001 and r = 0.757, p <0.001), BMI (r = 0.827, p <0.001 and r = 0.760; p <0.001) and abdominal circumference (r = 0.834, p <0.001 and r = 0.765, p <0.001). Neck circumference cutaways, which best track overweight adults, were 37,9 cm for men and 34,7 cm for women, and for obesity 40 cm for men and 36,5cm for women.

Conclusion: The neck circumference showed to be a simple screening tool to identify overweight in adults, with cutoff points of 37,9 cm for men and 34,7 cm for women to identify overweight, and 40 cm for men and 36,5 cm for women for obesity.