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Introduction: The prevalence of obesity in adolescents and children has risen to alarming levels globally and this has led to serious public health consequences. Aim: To assess the use of Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) in the identification of overweight and obesity in North Indian children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, India, from October 2014 to November 2015. Anthropometric data (weight, height and MUAC) was collected from a cross-sectional sample of 875 children aged 5–14 year old. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis determined the validity of MUAC as a proxy for determining overweight and obesity. Results: Area Under the Curve (AUC) results were generally high (0.92 – 0.98). The accuracy level of MUAC for identifying obesity was high in both sexes and across age groups (overall AUC of 0.95, sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 90%). The MUAC cut-off to identify BMI defined obesity was 18.8 cm and 19.4 cm for boys and girls of 5-9 age group; 23 cm and 23.3 cm for boys and girls of 10-14 age group. Conclusion: MUAC may have potential for clinical and surveillance applications as an accurate yet simple and widely available indicator of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in resourcepoor settings.