Performance of melão junior formula to identify of high body fat in adolescents

Background: Is there a lack of data on the predictive capacity of the formula proposed by Melão Juniorin the diagnosis of excess body fat in Brazilian adolescents. Aim: To evaluate the performance of the formula proposed by Melão Juniorin the prediction of high body fat in adolescents. Subjects and methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a sample of 507 students, aged 10–19 years, from public schools. The following indicators were assessed: weight, height, body mass index, Melão Junior’s formula, waist circumference, conicity index, and the waist-to-height ratio; percentage: body fat, lean body mass and water. The software SPSS® was used for database and statistical analysis. Results: Melão Junior’s formula displayed the largest areas under the ROC curve in the prediction of excess body fat. Cut-off points of excess body fat for women and men, respectively, were Melão Junior’s formula 18.15 and 17.35 , BMI 17.54 kg•m2 and 17.29 kg•m2, WC 58.50 cm and 60.5 cm, C-index 1.00 and 1.03, and WHtR 0.37 for both genders. Conclusion: Even though Melão Junior’s formula presents the highest prognostic power in relation to the body mass index formula, it is highlighted the need to adjust in the Melão formula or to build a new calculation that takes into consideration factors like gender, level of physical activity and ethnicity, for example.