Comparison of World Health Organization body mass index for age Z scores and revised Indian Academy of Pediatrics growth standards for the diagnosis of thinness, overweight, and obesity among adolescent girls

Abstract

Background: In spite of the rapid economic growth of India in recent years, the health of our children is being challenged by the troublesome duo of over nutrition and undernutrition. Determination of the magnitude of this problem needs uniform and representative growth standards across the country. Aim: To compare the prevalence of thinness, overweight, and obesity among girls aged 10-15 years belonging to urban Pondicherry using the World Health Organization (WHO) body mass index (BMI) for age Z scores and revised Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) growth standards. Materials and Methods: A total of 287 girls were included in the study. Weight and height were measured for all of them as per standard guidelines and BMI were calculated. Thin, overweight and obese girls were identified based on the WHO Z scores for BMI-for-age as well as revised IAP growth standards 2015. Results: The prevalence of thinness as per WHO BMI for age Z scores was 22.6%. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 6.6% and 2.1%, respectively. In comparison, the prevalence of thinness according to revised IAP growth standards was 10% and that of overweight and obesity were 6.3% and 1.4% respectively. The prevalence of thinness as per recent IAP growth standards is significantly less compared to the prevalence obtained using WHO Z scores. Conclusion: Using the WHO BMI for age Z scores is likely to overestimate the prevalence of thinness significantly when compared to revised IAP growth standards for Indian children. BMI for age Z scores for Indian children is needed to address this issue in large prospective multicenter studies.