Weight-for-height as a measure of obesity in English children five to 11 years old.

The relation between measurements of height, weight and triceps skinfold for 7758 English boys and girls aged five to 11 are investigated. It is shown that the correlation between weight adjusted for height and triceps skinfold increases from about 0.5 at age five to nearly 0.7 at age 11, but that some curvature in the relation exists, a closer association between the variables being found for relatively heavy children than for relatively light children. However, the relation between the two measurements is not sufficiently great for weight-for-height to be used as a proxy measure of obesity. Skinfold measurements are recommended, except in large epidemiological studies or when fully trained observers are not available.