The use of discriminant analysis to define obesity in children aged 7-11 years.

All the elementary schoolchildren (ages 7-11 years) in the city of Aosta were diagnosed clinically for obesity and measured for height, weight and triceps and subscapular skinfolds. A statistical discriminant analysis revealed that, on the basis of these measurements, this population of children could be divided into a group of normal children and one or more distinct populations of obese children. To the extent that these groups reveal qualitative phenotypic differences, they should simplify genetic studies of obesity.