Objective.

To determine the correlation and diagnostic agreement of body mass index (BMI) and abdominal perimeter (AP) with the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR).

Materials and methods.

A descriptive, cross-sectional, secondary data study was conducted using the anthropometric databases of the Food and Nutrition Surveillance Survey by Adult Life Stages from 18 to 59 years old, 2017-2018, which included 1084 individuals for the geographic domains of Metropolitan Lima, other urban areas, and rural regions. The prevalence of obesity was estimated according to BMI, AP and WHtR. Lin’s correlation coefficient and Cohen’s Kappa were used to determine the correlation and agreement between the three anthropometric measurements.

Results.

According to the BMI, AP, and WHtR criteria, the prevalence of obesity was 26.8%, 50.4% and 85.4%, respectively; the prevalence was higher in women and in those over 30 years of age. The correlation between BMI and AP, as well as between BMI and WHtR was poor; it was moderate between AP and WHtR, with differences between men and women. Furthermore, the agreement between BMI and AP was acceptable, whereas the agreement between BMI vs. WHtR was mild.

Conclusions.

The results regarding correlation and agreement are limited and suggest that they are not interchangeable measures, so it is necessary to evaluate the adequacy of using BMI alone for the diagnosis of obesity in Peru. The limited correlation and agreement was reflected in the different proportions of obesity that range from 26.8% to 85.4% when applying the three criteria.

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