Correspondence of two procedures to measure abdominal circumference in a convenience sample of urban, middle-class schoolchildren in Guatemala City.

Background: Given an emerging concern for juvenile overweight and obesity, even in populations of developing countries, techniques to assess central obesity, such as abdominal circumference (AC), are of increasing interest.

Objective: To compare two procedures for measuring AC in schoolchildren from a convenience sample of middle-class, urban children aged 72 to 131 months in Guatemala City.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study (August 2004- April 2005) in 363 schoolchildren; 190 boys and 173 girls.

Nutritional status of an economically-privileged convenience sample of urban children in Guatemala City.

Background: The worldwide pandemic of overweight and obesity has now reached low-income tropical societies.

Objective: To determine whether overweight or obesity is present among children from middle-class Guatemala City homes.

Methods: A total of 363 children, 173 boys and 190 girls aged 72-131 months, were included for height, weight, and abdominal circumference at its narrowest point (natural waist).

The positive deviance approach can be used to create culturally appropriate eating guides compatible with reduced cancer risk.

The 1997 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) Report provides 14 individual guidelines to reduce global cancer risk. The positive deviance approach could be appropriate for creating class-appropriate, healthy eating menu guides for consuming a diet to minimize cancer risk in Guatemala. Guatemalan adult participants (n = 873) were enrolled in the Concordance Project from 3 socioeconomic strata: rural area (n = 301), lower urban (n = 298), and higher urban (n = 274).