Mid-upper arm circumference and diabetes/prediabetes in children and adolescents: A cross-sectional study using NHANES data
Li Zhu, He Li, Tao Li
Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) is a simple anthropometric measure proposed as a marker of adiposity and cardiometabolic risk, but its relationship with diabetes and prediabetes in children and adolescents has not been fully characterized. This study assessed the association between MUAC and glycemic status in a nationally representative pediatric sample. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of pooled data from the 1999 to 2018 NHANES cycles, including 27,543 children and adolescents (age 6–19 years), of whom 2165 were classified as having diabetes or prediabetes by standard laboratory and self-report criteria. MUAC was measured at the midpoint of the right upper arm. Survey-weighted logistic regression models evaluated MUAC as both a continuous and categorical (quartiles) predictor of diabetes/prediabetes, adjusting for age, sex, race, education, poverty‑income ratio, body mass index, elevated blood pressure, and dyslipidemia. Restricted cubic spline analysis examined nonlinearity; subgroup analyses tested robustness. Higher MUAC was independently associated with higher odds of diabetes/prediabetes: per 1‑cm increase odds ratio: 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–1.08;