ArticleArchives of disease in childhood2014
Identifying the best body mass index metric to assess adiposity change in children.
Article in Archives of disease in childhood, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Correlations and consistency of body composition measurement indicators and BMI: a systematic review.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Pooled it
- Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes in U.S. Hispanic Youth: A Systematic Review of Lifestyle Interventions.American journal of preventive medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Drug interventions for the treatment of obesity in children and adolescents.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Exercise and BMI in Overweight and Obese Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Trial Sequential Meta-Analysis.BioMed research international · 2015Pooled it
- Trial
- Feasibility and Acceptability of a Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Intervention for Mothers and Children at a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center.Journal of primary care & community healthTrial
- Effects of Perfluorobutane Sulfonate (PFBS) on Female Reproduction, Pregnancy, and Birth Outcomes.Obstetrical & gynecological survey · 2025Review
- Cross-sectional associations between physical activity and sedentary time with cardiovascular health in children from the ALSPAC study using compositional data analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Varying optimal power for height-standardisation of childhood weight, fat mass and fat-free mass across the obesity epidemic.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Article
- Waist-circumference-to-height-ratio had better longitudinal agreement with DEXA-measured fat mass than BMI in 7237 children.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Predicting higher child BMI z-score and obesity incidence in Malaysia: a longitudinal analysis of a dynamic cohort study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Child eating behaviors are consistently linked to intake across meals that vary in portion size.Appetite · 2024Article
- Centre-based childcare in early childhood and growth in later childhood: a prospective cohort study.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2023Observational
- Article
- Adolescent Body Mass Index and Exposure to Peers with Overweight and Obesity: A Structural Equation Model Approach to Longitudinal Network Data.Childhood obesity (Print) · 2022Article
- Measuring BMI change among children and adolescents.Pediatric obesity · 2022Article
- The prospective relation between eating behaviors and BMI from middle childhood to adolescence: A 5-wave community study.Preventive medicine reports · 2022Article
- Evaluation of a Circadian Rhythm and Sleep-Focused Mobile Health Intervention for the Prevention of Accelerated Summer Weight Gain Among Elementary School-Age Children: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- Association of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 With Body Mass Trajectories of Children in Low-Income Families.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- Prenatal Phthalate Exposure and Child Weight and Adiposity fromEnvironmental health perspectives · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveAlthough dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is the preferred method to estimate adiposity, body mass index (BMI) is often used as a proxy. However, the ability of BMI to measure adiposity change among youth is poorly evidenced. This study explored which metrics of BMI change have the highest correlations with different metrics of DEXA change.
methodsData were from the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth cohort, a prospective cohort of children (8-10 years at recruitment) from Québec, Canada (n=557). Height and weight were measured by trained nurses at baseline (2008) and follow-up (2010). Metrics of BMI change were raw (ΔBMIkg/m(2) ), adjusted for median BMI (ΔBMIpercentage) and age-sex-adjusted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth curves expressed as centiles (ΔBMIcentile) or z-scores (ΔBMIz-score). Metrics of DEXA change were raw (total fat mass; ΔFMkg), per cent (ΔFMpercentage), height-adjusted (fat mass index; ΔFMI) and age-sex-adjusted z-scores (ΔFMz-score). Spearman's rank correlations were derived.
resultsCorrelations ranged from modest (0.60) to strong (0.86). ΔFMkg correlated most highly with ΔBMIkg/m(2) (r = 0.86), ΔFMI with ΔBMIkg/m(2) and ΔBMIpercentage (r = 0.83-0.84), ΔFMz-score with ΔBMIz-score (r = 0.78), and ΔFMpercentage with ΔBMIpercentage (r = 0.68). Correlations with ΔBMIcentile were consistently among the lowest.
conclusionsIn 8-10-year-old children, absolute or per cent change in BMI is a good proxy for change in fat mass or FMI, and BMI z-score change is a good proxy for FM z-score change. However change in BMI centile and change in per cent fat mass perform less well and are not recommended.
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