[Weight for height of Chilean school children according to age and puberal development]

In a sample of 6371 school age children, aged 9 to 15 years, representative of four Regions of Chile (II,V,IX, and XIII) weight for stature was evaluated, acocording to age and puberal stages of Tanner. The averages and medians of weight for stature between 130 at 170 cm for men and between 130 and 163cm for females are presented. Higher weight for height whith age and puberal stages was found in both sexes, but differences were not always significants. A very low correlation between weight, and chronologic age and low between weight and puberal status was observed. This was reflected for higher differences of weight in the successive puberal stages than in successive ages. We conclude that the puberal development rahter than chronologic age, must be use for a better nutritional evaluation of adolescents. Nevertheless, other parameters with better distribution in puberal poblation, must be considered.