What does this research mean for the field?

Anthropometric parameters are highly accurate field proxies for identifying waist-to-height ratio-defined cardiometabolic risk in adolescents, and normalizing physical fitness metrics for body mass substantially improves their discriminatory capacity. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To evaluate the discriminatory capacity of anthropometric indicators and physical fitness tests for detecting waist-to-height ratio-defined cardiometabolic risk across sex and biological maturity status in adolescents.

September 8, 2026ChildrenOpen Access

Discriminatory Capacity of Anthropometric Indicators and Physical Fitness Tests for Identifying Waist-to-Height Ratio-Defined Cardiometabolic Risk in Adolescents According to Sex and Biological Maturity

Q: What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Cross-Sectional. Population: Cardiometabolic risk (n=2944). Intervention: Anthropometric parameters and physical fitness tests. Primary outcome: Detecting WHtR-defined surrogate risk (WHtR ≥ 0.50) (AUC 0.88-0.98).

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Key result

Anthropometric parameters show high accuracy for detecting WHtR-defined cardiometabolic risk across sex and maturation cohorts.

AUC 0.88-0.98
n=2,944

Why the study?

Field-based health screening in adolescents requires accurate, non-invasive, and feasible diagnostic tools to identify surrogate cardiometabolic risk across sex and biological maturity status.

Do anthropometric parameters and physical fitness tests accurately identify waist-to-height ratio-defined cardiometabolic risk in adolescents?

Population

2944 Spanish adolescents (1459 males, 1485 females; age: 13.35 ± 1.20 years)

Comparison

Anthropometric parameters and physical fitness tests evaluated across sex and biological maturity status

Design

Cross-sectional study

Authors

VLVictoria López-LombóUniversidad de Murcia AMAdrián Mateo‐OrcajadaUniversidad de Murcia LALucía Abenza‐CanoUniversidad Católica de Murcia

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Supports anthropometric screening for WHtR-defined risk in adolescents; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective validation before practice change.

Key Points

To evaluate the discriminatory capacity of anthropometric indicators and physical fitness tests for detecting waist-to-height ratio-defined cardiometabolic risk across sex and biological maturity status in adolescents.
Conducted a cross-sectional study in 2944 Spanish adolescents (1459 males, 1485 females; mean age 13.35 ± 1.20 years).
Measured anthropometric indices (BMI, skinfolds, fat/muscle mass) and physical fitness tests (20-m shuttle run, handgrip, CMJ, SBJ, 20-m sprint, curl-up) in both raw and body-mass-normalized forms, estimating biological maturation via age at peak height velocity (APHV).
Defined surrogate cardiometabolic risk as waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) ≥ 0.50 and determined classification performance using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, Youden-derived cut-offs, and 1000-resample bootstrap validation.
Anthropometric parameters exhibited high discriminatory capacity for identifying WHtR-defined surrogate risk across all sex and maturation groups (AUC = 0.88–0.98).
Unadjusted fitness metrics showed poor classification ability, but normalizing fitness tests to body mass—especially relative countermovement jump and cardiorespiratory fitness—markedly enhanced diagnostic performance.
Exploratory anthropometric screening cut-offs exhibited a consistent descending pattern from early-maturing to late-maturing adolescent cohorts.

Study Design

Type

Cross-Sectional (n=2,944)

Structured PICO

Do anthropometric parameters and physical fitness tests accurately identify waist-to-height ratio-defined cardiometabolic risk in adolescents?

Population

2,944 Spanish adolescents (mean age 13.35 years) evaluated to determine the discriminatory capacity of anthropometric and physical fitness tests for WHtR-defined cardiometabolic risk.

Exposure

Anthropometric parameters (BMI, skinfolds, fat/muscle mass) and physical fitness tests (20-m shuttle run, handgrip, CMJ, SBJ, 20-m sprint, curl-up; evaluated in raw and body-mass-normalized formats)

Outcome

Discriminatory capacity for identifying waist-to-height ratio (WHtR)-defined surrogate cardiometabolic risk (WHtR ≥ 0.50)surrogate

Main Result

Effect estimate: AUC 0.88-0.98

Anthropometric parameters and body-mass-normalized physical fitness tests are highly accurate field proxies for screening waist-to-height ratio-defined cardiometabolic risk in adolescents.

Limitations

Surrogate risk was operationalized strictly as WHtR ≥ 0.50, without direct assessment of biochemical or hemodynamic parameters.
Current cut-offs remain exploratory and sample-derived.
Surrogate risk was operationalized strictly as WHtR ≥ 0.50, without direct assessment of biochemical or hemodynamic parameters
Current cut-offs remain exploratory and sample-derived

Cite This Study

López-Lombó et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Cardiometabolic risk (n=2,944). Anthropometric parameters and physical fitness tests was evaluated on Detecting WHtR-defined surrogate risk (WHtR ≥ 0.50) (AUC 0.88-0.98). Anthropometric parameters demonstrated high discriminatory performance for detecting WHtR-defined surrogate cardiometabolic risk across all sex and maturation cohorts (AUC 0.88-0.98).

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd7c658e84d0ff5b46cdb https://doi.org/10.3390/children13091201

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Implication

Supports anthropometric screening for WHtR-defined risk in adolescents; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective validation before practice change.

Discriminatory Capacity of Anthropometric Indicators and Physical Fitness Tests for Identifying Waist-to-Height Ratio-Defined Cardiometabolic Risk in Adolescents According to Sex and Biological Maturity

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Study Design

Structured PICO

Main Result

Limitations

Cite This Study

Discriminatory Capacity of Anthropometric Indicators and Physical Fitness Tests for Identifying Waist-to-Height Ratio-Defined Cardiometabolic Risk in Adolescents According to Sex and Biological Maturity

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Study Design

Structured PICO

Main Result

Limitations

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Also Consider