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Comparison of body mass index values proposed by Cole et al. (2000) and Must et al. (1991) for identifying obese children with weight-for-height index recommended by the World Health Organization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Marcelo Militão Abrantes ,
Joel Alves Lamounier  and
Enrico Antônio Colosimo
Marcelo Militão Abrantes
Affiliation:
Military Police Hospital of Minas Gerais (HPM-MG), Brazil:
Joel Alves Lamounier*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Alfredo Balena 190, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, CEP 30130-100
Enrico Antônio Colosimo
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
*
*Corresponding author: Email jalamo@medicina.ufmg.br.
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Abstract

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Objectives:

To calculate the sensitivity, specificity and agreement of body mass index (BMI) values proposed by Cole et al. (Br. Med. J. 2000; 320: 1) and Must et al. (Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1991; 53: 839 & 54: 773) with weight-for-height index in the nutritional evaluation of children.

Design:

Criterion standards for diagnostic tests.

Setting:

North-east and south-east Brazil.

Subjects:

Two thousand nine hundred and twenty children studied in Life Pattern Research performed by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in 1997. Main outcome measures are the sensitivity, specificity and agreement of BMI values proposed by Must et al. (1991) and Cole et al. (2000).

Results:

Sensitivity of values proposed by both authors was around 90%. Specificity was almost 100% considering weight-for-height index as the gold standard. The agreement of both values with weight-for-height index, based on kappa results, was good and in pre-school children it was excellent.

Conclusions:

Values proposed by Cole et al. (2000) and Must et al. (1991) should be used carefully to screen obesity in childhood but can be used to ‘diagnose’ overweight children with a very low chance of having false-positive results. Although the values proposed by both authors performed similarly, use of Cole et al.'s values should be encouraged. The latter cover children from 2 to 6 years old; their values are presented for six-month age intervals; they are based on a larger sample from six different countries; and they are related to the definition of adult obesity.

Keywords

ObesityOverweightAdolescenceChildhood
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , June 2003 , pp. 307 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © CAB International 2003

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