McCarthy H D, Jarrett K V, Emmett P M, Rogers I
Institute of Health Research & Policy, London Metropolitan University, London, UK.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2005 Feb;29(2):157-62. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0802849.
To compare waist circumference (a measure of central fatness) and body mass index (BMI, a measure of general fatness) between a contemporary cohort and similar aged British children measured in 1987.
: Comparative study of two cohorts. The first was a cross-sectional survey and the second an ongoing longitudinal survey.
: The cross-sectional study was conducted throughout Great Britain during 1987. The ongoing longitudinal study was conducted in the Avon region between 1995 and 1998.
A total of 1821 children were measured in the cross-sectional study, and around 1000 children were measured in the longitudinal study. Ages ranged between 2 and 5 y.
Waist circumference, height, weight and BMI. Values were expressed as mean+/-s.d. Age-related measures were compared.
At equivalent ages, mean waist circumference values were greater in the contemporary children, compared with children measured in the earlier cross-sectional study in 1987 (P<0.05). Although boys from the contemporary cohort had the larger absolute waist circumference measurements, the absolute and percentage differences in waist circumference between the cohorts were greater for the girls. Mean BMI values were slightly but significantly higher in the contemporary children compared with children measured in the earlier cross-sectional study (P<0.05). The proportional increase in waist circumference for each age-sex group generally exceeded the proportional increase in BMI.
These results suggest that central fatness in young British children has increased over the period of 1987-97 to a greater extent than general fatness. This should be of concern since evidence associates greater central adiposity with adverse levels of cardiovascular risk factors in children. Furthermore, the study highlights important shortcomings of the BMI measurement, in that it provides no information on body fat distribution and can mask true obesity-related risk in children.
比较当代队列儿童与1987年测量的同龄英国儿童的腰围（衡量中心性肥胖的指标）和体重指数（BMI，衡量总体肥胖的指标）。
两个队列的比较研究。第一个是横断面调查，第二个是正在进行的纵向调查。
横断面研究于1987年在英国全境进行。正在进行的纵向研究于1995年至1998年在埃文地区进行。
横断面研究共测量了1821名儿童，纵向研究测量了约1000名儿童。年龄在2至5岁之间。
腰围、身高、体重和BMI。数值表示为均值±标准差。比较了与年龄相关的指标。
在相同年龄时，当代儿童的平均腰围值高于1987年早期横断面研究中测量的儿童（P<0.05）。虽然当代队列中的男孩腰围绝对值更大，但队列间女孩腰围的绝对值和百分比差异更大。当代儿童的平均BMI值略高于早期横断面研究中测量的儿童，但差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。每个年龄性别组腰围的比例增加通常超过BMI的比例增加。
这些结果表明，1987年至1997年期间，英国幼儿的中心性肥胖比总体肥胖增加得更多。这应引起关注，因为有证据表明儿童中心性肥胖程度越高，心血管危险因素水平越高。此外，该研究突出了BMI测量的重要缺点，即它没有提供身体脂肪分布的信息，可能掩盖儿童真正的肥胖相关风险。
