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Body mass index centile charts to assess fatness of British children
E M White1, A C Wilson, S A Greene
1Department of Child Health, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee.
Insights
This study created new body mass index (BMI) charts for children using Cole's LMS method. British children showed higher BMI compared to European data, suggesting potential differences in childhood fatness.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Anthropometry
- Public Health
Background:
- Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of weight relative to height, but its age-dependent nature complicates its use for assessing childhood fatness.
- Conventional BMI use for children is limited due to variations with age.
Purpose of the Study:
- To construct normalized growth standard centile charts for child BMI using Cole's LMS method.
- To compare BMI data from British children with existing European (French) BMI charts.
- To investigate the correlation between BMI and direct measures of body fat in children.
Main Methods:
- Centile charts for BMI (weight/height²) were created for 34,533 Tayside children using Cole's LMS method.
- BMI data were compared with published European BMI charts derived from French children (1956-1979).
- In a subgroup of 445 children, BMI was correlated with body fat estimations from skinfold thickness and bioelectrical impedance analysis.
Main Results:
- British children exhibited higher BMI values compared to their French counterparts.
- BMI showed significant correlations with body fat estimations: r = 0.80-0.81 for skinfold thickness and r = 0.65-0.70 for bioelectrical impedance in boys and girls.
- The study highlights the need to define acceptable BMI limits for children.
Conclusions:
- Normalized BMI centile charts provide a standardized method for assessing child growth and fatness.
- Observed differences in BMI between British and French children warrant further investigation into factors influencing childhood obesity.
- Establishing clear BMI thresholds is crucial for identifying and managing childhood overweight and obesity.
Abstract:
Body mass index (BMI) relates weight to height and reflects the shape of a child, but because of age dependency it has not been used conventionally for the estimation of fatness in children. From measurements of Tayside children (n = 34,533) centile charts were constructed for BMI (wt/ht2) from the raw data of height and weight, using Cole's LMS method for normalised growth standards. These data were compared with the only available European BMI charts published from data of French children obtained over a period of 24 years from 1956-79. British children appear to be 'fatter'. Within a subgroup (n = 445) the BMI values were correlated with estimations of body fat, for boys and girls, from skinfold thickness (r = 0.8 and 0.81) and bioelectrical impedance (r = 0.65 and 0.7). The limits of acceptable BMI have yet to be defined.