Children's body fatness and prevalence of obesity in relation to height for age

Children who are taller for their age tend to have higher BMI and, as a group, a greater prevalence of overweight/obesity.

To examine the relationship between height for age with three measures of adiposity.

Height, weight, BMI, % body fat (%BF) (by bioimpedance) and waist circumference (WC) were measured in 2298 Caucasian children (1251 boys) aged 4-14 years. Standard deviation scores (SDS) were derived and cases divided into quartiles of height SDS. Mean BMI, %BF and WC SDSs were compared across quartiles. Prevalence of overweight/obesity, over-fat/obesity and abdominal overweight/obesity within each height for age quartile was determined.

Mean BMI, %BF and WC SDSs increased with increasing quartile of height SDS. Overweight/obesity, overfat/obesity and abdominal overweight/obesity prevalence increased from the first quartile (8.8-13%) to the fourth quartile (32.7-45.5%) of height SDS. A significant rising trend in mean SDSs for BMI, %BF and WC was also observed with increasing height SDS in overweight/obese children only.

A higher prevalence of excess weight, measured by BMI SDS among children taller for their age, is replicated when using %BF and WC. Height for age measurement has potential in screening children for later risk of obesity.