Text Box: WAIST-TO-HEIGHT RATIO IS PROBABLY THE BEST PREDICTOR OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTORS IN JAPANESE SCHOOLCHILDREN. Hara M1, Saitou E,1 Iwata F2, Okada T2 and Harada K2. 1Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan 2Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan Background: Many studies have shown that fat distribution is an important indicator in detecting risk of cardiovascular disease in adults. This kind of relationship has not been fully understood in children. Objective: To determine whether is the best predictor for the presence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among anthropometric indexes such as body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (%Fat), waist-to-hip (W/H) ratio, waist circumference (W), and waist-to-height (W/Ht) ratio in Japanese schoolchildren. Methods: This study included 850 children (boys 417 and girls 433), 9-13y of age. Body weight, height, skinfolds thickness, W and hip circumference (H) were measured. BMI, %Fat, W/H, and W/Ht ratio were calculated. Blood pressure was measured in ordinary way. Serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and HDL-cholesterol (HDLC) were measured by enzymatic method. Atherogenic index (AI) and LDL-cholesterol (LDLC) were calculated by using formula. [AI=(TC-HDLC)/HDLC] This study was undertaken to assess the above risks, the total score (score) obtained according to grading scale about cardiovascular variables. Results: There was the strongest correlation between W/Ht ratio and the score by Pearson's correlation analysis (r=0.60, p<0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed that the significant independent correlates for the score was W/Ht ratio and %Fat (Adjusted R-squared=0.39, p<0.0001). Among those indicators of body fat distribution, W/Ht ratio was the most significant predictor for TC, TG, LDLC, AI and the score. Conclusion: W/Ht ratio is the best predictor of cardiovascular risk factors in Japanese schoolchildren. Since higher deposition of central fat also revealed the aspect of atherogenic profiles in childhood, we propose to use W/Ht ratio for detecting risks of cardiovascular disease in children. 2501