Comparisons between inverted body mass index and body mass index as proxies for body fatness and risk factors for metabolic risk and cardiorespiratory fitness in Portuguese adolescents.

OBJECTIVES

To compare inverted body mass index (iBMI, cm(2) /kg) and body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2) ) as predictors of body fatness, metabolic risk, and cardiovascular fitness in adolescents.

METHODS

A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 445 Portuguese adolescents (252 girls and 193 boys) aged 10-17 years. Height and body mass were assessed to determine iBMI and BMI, percent body fatness was determined from skinfold measures (tricep, subscapular) using the Slaughter et al. (1988: Hum Biol 60: 709-723) regression equation and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was assessed using the 20-m shuttle run test. Capillary blood sampling was used to determine: Total cholesterol, triglycerides, high, and low density lipoprotein. These were combined with measures of systolic blood pressure and waist circumference as z-scores. Metabolic risk (MRS) was constructed by summing the z-scores.

RESULTS

iBMI and BMI were both significantly related to percent body fatness, CRF and MRS (all P = 0.005 or better). BMI was not normally distributed (P = 0.0001), whereas iBMI was (P > 0.05). Regression analysis identified that iBMI and BMI, both alongside for age, were significant predictors of percent body fatness, CRF and MRS (all P = 0.005 or better). Compared with BMI, iBMI was a similar predictor of CRF, MRS and body fatness.

CONCLUSIONS

iBMI offers a biologically sound alternative to BMI to assess the effect of weight status on MRS and CRF in adolescents and allows appropriate use of parametrical statistical techniques without changing the conclusions drawn from such data.