Assessment criteria for overweight and obesity in Canarian adolescents

Abstract

Objective: to compare and establish criteria for assessing the levels of overweight and obesity in Canarian adolescents.

Method: 4282 students from public schools from the ages of 11.75 to 16.25 years took part in the study. 2154 were male and 2128 were female. From the registered information about weight and height, their Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated, and, once pupils were classified into age segments of six months, the Orbegozo limit values 2011, were taken into account to classify them as normal weight, overweight and obese. From additional information about waist circumference, the Waist to Height Ratio was also obtained. Critical values for Waist to Height Ratio were also calculated in such a way that the percentages of pupils classified as normal weight, overweight and obese into each age segment were the same as the ones from the Body Mass Index results. Then, by estimating splines fitted to these critical points for each six–month age segment, value limits are defined as continuous functions of age.

Results: Spline functions fitted to the limit values for Body Mass Index or Waist to Height Ratio show different trends according to teenagers’ age and gender.

Conclusion: due to anthropometric transformations in teenagers, overweight criteria should take into account that such transformations are a continuous function of age. Furthermore, beyond the information provided by Body Mass Index, Waist to Height Ratio may be a measure which is more sensitive to anthropometric changes.