Age-Adjusted Anthropometric Index of Overweight Optimized for Ages Ranging from 6 to 14 Years

摘要

To determine the best fit model of age adjustment for overweight in children, we analyzed the anthropometric data for school children, ages ranging from 6 to 14 years. We referred to the height, body weight and age of 4196 boys and 3901 girls in elementary and junior high schools in Yamanashi Prefecture. From these data, randomized samples for 2250 boys and 2247 girls were subjected to statistical analysis. To obtain the index of overweight that was minimally affected by the ages of the subjects, body weight (Bw; kg) / Height (Ht; m) power (BMIP) was calculated for each subject, and the power of the height was adjusted so that the calculated value showed the least correlation with age. The BMIP was least correlated with age when the power was set to 2.6927 in boys, and to 2.8472 in girls. The optimized BMIP values in 3 different age and height groups were similar in boys, but somewhat different in girls. However, the variability of the mean values was around 2% in girls. These results suggest that BMIP optimized for age in each sex is a better alternative to the standard body weight for Japanese children than body mass index.