Table 4.
Prevalence of four categories of weight status (underweight, healthy, overweight and obesity) using four international references among girls, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
| Grade 1 (age 7 years) | Grade 5 (age 11 years) | Grade 9 (age 15 years) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight status | Method | n | % | 95 % CI | n | % | 95 % CI | n | % | 95 % CI |
| Underweight* | BMI-for-age (WHO 2007)( 24 ) | 3 | 1·2 | 0·4, 3·5 | 5 | 1·9 | 0·8, 4·3 | 6 | 1·9 | 0·9, 4·1 |
| BMI-for-age (Cole-IOTF)( 27 , 29 ) | 38 | 15·1 | 11·2, 20·1 | 33 | 12·3 | 8·9, 16·7 | 25 | 8·2 | 5·6, 11·8 | |
| Weight-for-age (NCHS/WHO)( 25 ) | 7 | 2·8 | 1·4, 5·7 | 5 | 1·9 | 0·8, 4·3 | 3 | 1·0 | 0·3, 2·9 | |
| Body fat % (McCarthy 2006)( 30 ) | 44 | 17·7 | 13·4, 22·9 | 53 | 19·7 | 15·4, 24·9 | 29 | 9·1 | 6·4, 12·7 | |
| Healthy weight† | BMI-for-age (WHO 2007)( 24 ) | 214 | 85·3 | 80·3, 89·1 | 228 | 84·8 | 80·0, 88·6 | 227 | 72·3 | 67·1, 77·0 |
| BMI-for-age (Cole-IOTF)( 27 , 29 ) | 190 | 75·7 | 70·0, 80·6 | 210 | 78·1 | 72·8, 82·6 | 211 | 69·2 | 63·8, 74·1 | |
| Weight-for-age (NCHS/WHO)( 25 ) | 185 | 74·9 | 69·1, 80·0 | 244 | 91·0 | 87·0, 93·9 | 264 | 86·9 | 82·6, 90·2 | |
| Body fat % (McCarthy 2006)( 30 ) | 157 | 63·1 | 56·9, 68·8 | 193 | 71·8 | 66·1, 76·8 | 215 | 67·2 | 58·0, 68·2 | |
| Overweight‡ | BMI-for-age (WHO 2007)( 24 ) | 29 | 11·6 | 8·2, 16·1 | 32 | 11·9 | 8·6, 16·3 | 56 | 17·8 | 14·0, 22·5 |
| BMI-for-age (Cole-IOTF)( 27 , 29 ) | 18 | 7·2 | 4·6, 11·1 | 23 | 8·6 | 5·8, 12·5 | 53 | 17·4 | 13·5, 22·0 | |
| Weight-for-age (NCHS/WHO)( 25 ) | 36 | 14·6 | 10·7, 19·5 | 16 | 6·0 | 3·7, 9·5 | 30 | 9·9 | 7·0, 13·7 | |
| Body fat % (McCarthy 2006)( 30 ) | 35 | 14·1 | 10·3, 18·9 | 17 | 6·3 | 3·7, 9·2 | 40 | 12·5 | 8·3, 15·0 | |
| Obese§ | BMI-for-age (WHO 2007)( 24 ) | 5 | 2·0 | 0·8, 4·6 | 4 | 1·5 | 0·6, 3·8 | 25 | 8·0 | 5·5, 11·5 |
| BMI-for-age (Cole-IOTF)( 27 , 29 ) | 5 | 2·0 | 0·9, 4·6 | 3 | 1·1 | 0·4, 3·2 | 16 | 5·3 | 3·3, 8·4 | |
| Weight-for-age (NCHS/WHO)( 25 ) | 19 | 7·7 | 5·0, 11·7 | 3 | 1·1 | 0·4, 3·2 | 7 | 2·3 | 1·1, 4·7 | |
| Body fat % (McCarthy 2006)( 30 ) | 13 | 5·2 | 3·1, 8·7 | 6 | 2·2 | 1·0, 4·4 | 36 | 11·3 | 7·8, 14·3 | |
IOTF, International Obesity Taskforce; NCHS, National Center for Health Statistics.
*Underweight: WHO 2007 = Z score of <−2; IOTF = equivalent to BMI at age 18 years of <18·5 kg/m2; NCHS/WHO = Z-score of <−2; McCarthy 2006 = body fat % ranging from 0 to 12 % depending on age.
†Healthy weight: WHO 2007 = Z score of ≥−2 and ≤+1; IOTF = equivalent to BMI at age years 18 of 18·5–24·9 kg/m2; NCHS/WHO = Z-score of ≥−2 and ≤+1; McCarthy 2006 = body fat % ranging from 10 to 23 % depending on age.
‡Overweight: WHO 2007 = Z-score of >+1; IOTF = equivalent to BMI at age 18 years of 25·0–29·9 kg/m2; NCHS/WHO = Z-score of >+1 and ≤+2; McCarthy 2006 = body fat % ranging from 20 to 28 %, depending on age.
§Obese: WHO 2007 = Z-score of >+2; IOTF = equivalent to BMI at age 18 years of ≥30·0 kg/m2; NCHS/WHO = Z-score of >+2; McCarthy 2006 = body fat % ranging from 24 % depending on age.