Problems with the use of "weight for height" tables

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Anthropometry
• Public Health

Background:

• International weight-for-height reference data sets (NCHS for children/adolescents, Fogarty for adults) exhibit a significant discontinuity.
• This discontinuity leads to misclassification of nutritional status in young adults, who may appear obese by one standard and underweight by another.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the discontinuity in widely used weight-for-height reference data.
• To propose a continuous set of reference values for improved nutritional assessment across all age groups and sexes.

Main Methods:

• Calculated a compromise set of reference values.
• Utilized the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data, considered more reliable.
• Ensured the proposed values are applicable to all ages and both sexes.

Main Results:

• A single, continuous set of weight-for-height reference values was generated.
• The proposed values align closely with Fogarty data for tall adults.
• A discrepancy remains for shorter adults, suggesting a potential error in the Fogarty data.

Conclusions:

• The proposed continuous reference data set offers a more reliable method for population nutritional assessment.
• This new standard addresses the limitations of existing discontinuous data sets.
• Further investigation into the discrepancy with Fogarty data for shorter adults is warranted.