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Updated: May 7, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Creation of an adiposity index for children aged 6-8 years: the Gateshead Millennium Study
Mark S Pearce1, Peter W James, Maria Franco-Villoria
1Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Sir James Spence Institute, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, UK.
Objective:
A number of measures of childhood adiposity are in use, but all are relatively imprecise and prone to bias. We constructed an adiposity index (AI) using a number of different measures.
Methods:
Detailed body composition data on 460 of the Gateshead Millennium Study cohort at the age of 6-8 years were analysed. The AI was calculated using factor analysis on age plus thirteen measures of adiposity and/or size. Correlations between these variables, the AI, and more traditional measures of adiposity in children were investigated.
Results:
Based on the factor loading sizes, the first component, taken to be the AI, consisted mainly of measures of fat-mass (the skinfold measurements, fat mass score, and waist circumference). The second comprised variables measuring frame size, while the third consisted mainly of age. The AI had a high correlation with body mass index (BMI) (rho = 0.81).
Conclusions:
While BMI is practical for assessing adiposity in children, the AI combines a wider range of data related to adiposity than BMI alone and appears both valid and valuable as a research tool for studies of childhood adiposity. Further research is necessary to investigate the utility of AI for research in other samples of children and also in adults.
