Body mass index reference curves for the UK, 1990.

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Abstract

Reference curves for stature and weight in British children have been available for the past 30 years, and have recently been updated. However weight by itself is a poor indicator of fatness or obesity, and there has never been a corresponding set of reference curves to assess weight for height. Body mass index (BMI) or weight/height has been popular for assessing obesity in adults for many years, but its use in children has developed only recently. Here centile curves for BMI in British children are presented, from birth to 23 years, based on the same large representative sample as used to update the stature and weight references. The charts were derived using Cole's LMS method, which adjusts the BMI distribution for skewness and allows BMI in individual subjects to be expressed as an exact centile or SD score. Use of the charts in clinical practice is aided by the provision of nine centiles, where the two extremes identify the fattest and thinnest four per 1000 of the population.

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Reference data for obesity: 85th and 95th percentiles of body mass index (wt/ht2) and triceps skinfold thickness.

A Must, G Dallal, W Dietz (1991)

Body mass index (BMI) and triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) are commonly used measures of adiposity in clinical and epidemiologic studies. The 85th and 95th percentiles of BMI and TSF are often used operationally to define obesity and superobesity, respectively. Race-specific and population-based 85th and 95th percentiles of BMI and TSF for people aged 6-74 y were generated from anthropometric data gathered in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1 (NHANES I). The complex sample design of the survey is reflected in the reference values presented. Racial differences in these extremes of the distribution do not emerge until adulthood. Researchers may choose population-based, race-specific, or age-specific criteria for obesity on the basis of assumptions underlying their specific research questions.

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Adiposity indices in children.

M Sempé, M-P. Bataillé, F Rolland … (1982)

On the basis of a longitudinal study of growth in French children, we attempted to find a valid index for estimating adiposity, and to specify the optimal conditions for its use. The Quetelet index was found suitable for application to children, but as with all methods, a certain lack of precision proved unavoidable because of the different stages of growth observed at a given age. For use by clinicians, we provide charts, based on the Quetelet index and on age, permitting estimation of adiposity in any child on the basis of longitudinal study measurements. For use by epidemiologists, we give standard values for studying groups of subjects, even when a reference population is not available. Body adiposity may be expressed independently of age and sex.