In a study of over 4,000 young kids in the Pacific islands, about 5 out of every 100 had a dark, velvety skin condition called acanthosis nigricans.

For young kids in the Pacific islands, measuring their waist size can help spot a skin condition called acanthosis nigricans. For boys 2-5 years old, a waist size of about 58 cm (90th percentile) correctly identifies about half of the kids with the skin condition and correctly rules it out for 91% of kids without it.

Using different waist size cutoffs based on age and gender works better for spotting the skin condition acanthosis nigricans than using one cutoff for all kids in the Pacific islands.

For girls 6-8 years old in the Pacific islands, using a waist size of 63.6 cm (80th percentile) correctly identifies about 55% of kids with the skin condition acanthosis nigricans and correctly rules it out for 83% of kids without it.

For boys 6-8 years old in the Pacific islands, measuring waist size had a high accuracy (AUC 0.86) for predicting the skin condition acanthosis nigricans, meaning it's a reliable screening tool.