542 VALIDATION OF THE BODY MASS INDEX AND CURVES OF ADIPOSITY FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

A measure of adiposity is needed which can be applied longitudinally for clinical and epidemiologic purposes from childhood through adolescence and adulthood.. Direct methods of body fatness are only of limited applicability in children due to their risks and inconvenience. Using data on 5,679 Caucasian subjects aged 1-19years, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1971-1974, the validity of the Body Mass Index (BMI=wt/ht²), Relative Weight (RW=wt/ht)and Skinfold Thickness (SF=ave. of triceps and subscap. measurements) were compared. Both the BMI and RW were found to have greater validity than SF in the age group under study. Since BMI has greater validity than RW for adults, the BMI is the preferred longitudinal measure of adiposity for clinical and epidemiological purposes. Three methodological features of the study are unique. First, an indirect criterion of validity was specified a priori (maximal correlation with weight and minimal correlation with height). Second, a Validity Coefficient was developed for the study in order to measure simultaneously the correlation of each measure with height and weight. Third, all calculations used Spearman rank correlations and were done separately by sex and year of age, rather than using combined age groups. In order to facilitate use of BMI, smoothed percentile curves of BMI by year of age for Caucasian males and females ages 1-19 were developed from these data. These curves can be used to monitor a child's change in adiposity over time and to compare the adiposity of children by age and sex.

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