Assessing obesity with body weight and height.

Anthropometric measurements in one hundred girls and one hundred boys from 4.6 to 5.5 years of age were carried out in order to study the correspondence between the criteria of obesity according to weight for stature (BW-HT) and according to the magnitude of fat body mass (FM calculated of two different regression equations, one developed starting from body weight (BW), height (HT) and two skinfolds, and another one, using only BW and HT. Employing the criterion of obesity based upon BW-HT above 120%, a number of heavy but not fatty subjects (mainly boys) were included as obese, and three of the girls studied were fatty but not overweight. Conversely, if we calculate FM using the regression equation based on BW and HT, and the criterion of obesity based upon body fat percent, the incidence of obesity could be underestimated. The best results were given by regression equations which include BW, HT and two skinfolds (triceps and subscapular). Though the usefulness of BW and HT in nutritional assessment is not discussed, the diagnostic limitations of these measurements used alone or in combination are evident and therefore it is necessary to include skinfold measurements if we wish to obtain a correct diagnosis of obesity.