Waist circumference percentiles in children and adolescents between 6 and 14 years from Santiago, Chile.

Objective: To describe the percentile distribution of waist circumference (WC) by sex and age in a representative sample of children and adolescents of lower-middle and low socioeconomic status in Santiago, Chile.

Methods: A cross-section of 3022 primary-school students between the ages of 6 and 14 from middle-low and low-class schools of Santiago. Ten schools from the Primary Education Society (SIP) in Santiago, Chile, were selected at random.