Table 3:
Comparison of the anthropometric characteristics of children according to whether the CDC or WHO growth curves are used as the reference
| Characteristic | 9-year-olds | 13-year-olds | 16-year-olds | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
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| CDC | WHO | p value | CDC | WHO | p value | CDC | WHO | p value | |
| Boys | n = 381 | n = 416 | n = 407 | ||||||
|
| |||||||||
| BMI percentile, mean (SD) | 53.8 (31.5) | 56.6 (32.5) | < 0.0001 | 57.6 (29.1) | 60.1 (29.9) | < 0.0001 | 57.8 (27.8) | 58.7 (28.3) | < 0.0001 |
|
| |||||||||
| BMI z score, mean (SD)* | 0.12 (1.1) | 0.35 (1.4) | < 0.0001 | 0.26 (1.0) | 0.43 (1.2) | < 0.0001 | 0.28 (1.0) | 0.38 (1.1) | < 0.0001 |
|
| |||||||||
| BMI category, no. (%)† | |||||||||
|
| |||||||||
| Underweight | 25 (6.6) | 20 (5.2) | < 0.0001 | 21 (5.0) | 21 (5.0) | 0.002 | 11 (2.7) | 10 (2.5) | 0.006 |
|
| |||||||||
| Normal | 264 (69.3) | 251 (65.9) | < 0.0001 | 295 (71.0) | 275 (66.1) | 0.002 | 306 (75.2) | 296 (72.7) | 0.006 |
|
| |||||||||
| Overweight | 57 (15.0) | 66 (17.3) | < 0.0001 | 54 (13.0) | 73 (17.5) | 0.002 | 48 (11.8) | 65 (16.0) | 0.006 |
|
| |||||||||
| Obese | 35 (9.2) | 44 (11.5) | < 0.0001 | 46 (11.0) | 47 (11.3) | 0.002 | 42 (10.3) | 36 (8.8) | 0.006 |
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| |||||||||
| Girls | n = 398 | n = 400 | n = 464 | ||||||
|
| |||||||||
| BMI percentile, mean (SD) | 51.7 (31.2) | 54.8 (31.8) | < 0.0001 | 58.1 (29.1) | 57.5 (30.7) | 0.4 | 55.8 (28.2) | 54.9 (29.5) | 0.0002 |
|
| |||||||||
| BMI z score, mean (SD)* | 0.05 (1.1) | 0.25 (1.3) | < 0.0001 | 0.26 (1.1) | 0.32 (1.3) | < 0.0001 | 0.19 (0.9) | 0.23 (1.1) | < 0.0001 |
|
| |||||||||
| BMI category, no. (%)† | |||||||||
|
| |||||||||
| Underweight | 31 (7.8) | 25 (6.3) | 0.001 | 15 (3.7) | 17 (4.3) | 0.04 | 13 (2.8) | 13 (2.8) | 0.04 |
|
| |||||||||
| Normal | 283 (71.1) | 274 (68.8) | 0.001 | 293 (73.3) | 281 (70.3) | 0.04 | 352 (75.9) | 340 (73.3) | 0.04 |
|
| |||||||||
| Overweight | 48 (12.1) | 62 (15.6) | 0.001 | 53 (13.3) | 64 (16.0) | 0.04 | 73 (15.7) | 86 (18.5) | 0.04 |
|
| |||||||||
| Obese | 36 (9.0) | 37 (9.3) | 0.001 | 39 (9.7) | 38 (9.5) | 0.04 | 26 (5.6) | 25 (5.4) | 0.04 |
Note: BMI = body mass index, CDC = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, SD = standard deviation, WHO = World Health Organization.
Distance (measured in standard deviations) from the mean BMI of children of the same age and sex.
Percentages may not add up to 100% owing to rounding. CDC and WHO both define underweight as BMI < 5th percentile and normal as at or above the 5th percentile and below the 85th percentile. CDC defines overweight as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile, and obese as BMI ≥ 95th percentile. WHO defines overweight as at or above the 85th percentile and below the 97.7th percentile, and obese as BMI ≥ 97.7th percentile.