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Body mass index reference curves for the UK, 1990
T J Cole1, J V Freeman, M A Preece
1MRC Dunn Nutrition Centre, Cambridge.
Archives of Disease in Childhood
|July 1, 1995
Summary
New reference curves for Body Mass Index (BMI) in British children are now available, offering a better measure of weight for height than weight alone. These charts help assess childhood obesity from birth to 23 years.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Anthropometry
Background:
- Traditional stature and weight references for British children are updated.
- Weight alone is an insufficient metric for assessing childhood obesity.
- Body Mass Index (BMI) is increasingly used for pediatric obesity assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present new centile curves for Body Mass Index (BMI) in British children.
- To provide a reliable tool for assessing weight-for-height in pediatric populations.
- To establish reference data for childhood BMI from birth to 23 years.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Cole's LMS method for data analysis.
- Derived BMI centile curves from a large, representative sample of British children.
- Adjusted BMI distributions for skewness to enable precise percentile and SD score expression.
Main Results:
- Presented comprehensive BMI centile curves for British children (birth to 23 years).
- The derived charts allow for accurate BMI assessment and classification.
- Nine centiles are provided, identifying extreme weight-for-height categories.
Conclusions:
- The new BMI reference curves offer an improved method for assessing weight-for-height in children and adolescents.
- These charts are valuable tools for clinical practice in identifying and monitoring childhood obesity.
- The updated references support public health initiatives related to pediatric weight management.