ESPE Abstracts

Background: Anthropometry is the general tool for defining overweight and obesity, with BMI cut-offs adjusted for sex and age, as the most commonly used variable in childhood.

Objective and hypotheses: Based on the interrelationships between BMI and different overweight-related anthropometric variables we wanted to find out which anthropometric variables contribute most to the variation in BMI, and how age affect this picture?

Method: Data on BMI, height (H), sitting height (SH), waist circumference (WC), waist to height ratio (WHtR), waist to sitting height ratio (WSHtR), subscapular skinfold (SSF), and triceps skinfold (TSF), from 4576 Norwegian children 4.00–15.99 years of age, were transformed to standardized scores (SDS) and studied by means of correlation and regression analyses.

Results: The correlations between BMI SDS and the standardized anthropometric variables were in general strong and positive. WC SDS and WHtR SDS were strongest correlated to BMI SDS through all ages and in both sexes. A model with seven anthropometric variables adjusted for sex and age group explained 81.4% of the variation in BMI SDS. When adjusted for all other variables, WC SDS explained most of the variation in BMI SDS (b=0.467). Age group but not sex, contributed significantly to variation in BMI SDS. The correlations between all variables were weakest in the youngest age-group.

Conclusion: Independent of sex and age, WC SDS was superior to other anthropometric variables in this study in explaining variations in BMI SDS. The interrelationships between BMI and all variables studied were weakest in the youngest age group.