Fatness and body mass index from birth to young adulthood in a rural Guatemalan population

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 70; no. 1; pp. 137 - 144
• Main Authors: Schroeder, D.G, Martorell, R
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Clinical Nutrition 01.07.1999; American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc
• Subjects: adolescents; anthropometric measurements; Biological and medical sciences; body fat; body weight; boys; children; gender differences; girls; infants; Medical sciences; Metabolic diseases; monitoring; Obesity; overweight; Rural areas; rural population; skinfold thickness; Weight; young adults; Guatemala; Central America; America; Human; Obesity; Rural environment; Anthropometry; Nutrition disorder; Biological marker; Environmental factor; Infant; Corporal biometry; Epidemiology; Skinfold thickness; Overweight; Body mass index; Follow up study; Young adult; Child; Public health; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/70.1.137s

Body mass index (BMI; wt in kg/ht(2) in m) has been proposed as a simple and valid measure for monitoring fatness. Using data from a 25-y longitudinal study of rural Guatemalans, we found that, as children, this population was stunted (mean height-for-age z = -2.6) and had low triceps skinfold thicknesses (approximately equal to 10% of reference medians), yet had mean BMIs above US reference medians. As young adults, mean BMIs were at the 50th and 20th percentiles for women and men, respectively. BMIs between ages 1 and 5 y were moderately correlated (r = 0.2-0.3) with those in young adulthood. BMI was correlated with subscapular (r = 0.5-0.8) and triceps (r = 0.2-0.7) skinfold thicknesses at all ages and with predicted percentage body fat in adolescence (r = 0.65) and adulthood (r = 0.8). Fatness was highly centralized, with ratios of subscapular to triceps skinfold thicknesses at the 50th-90th percentiles of reference medians at all ages. BMI was a poor indicator of central fat; the correlation between BMI and waist-to-hip ratio in 14-17-y-old males was -0.21). In stunted populations in developing countries, BMI alone should be interpreted with caution. In stunted children, BMIs may be high despite small extremity skinfold thicknesses; BMI alone may overestimate the prevalence of fatness in these children. In adults, measures in addition to BMI may be required to identify centralized adiposity in these populations.