scholarly journals Diagnostic Accuracy of Body Mass Index in Defining Childhood Obesity: Analysis of Cross-Sectional Data from Ghanaian Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Theodosia Adom ◽  
André Pascal Kengne ◽  
Anniza De Villiers ◽  
Rose Boatin ◽  
Thandi Puoane
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Fat ◽  
World Health ◽  
Percent Body Fat ◽  
Screening Methods ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Predictive Values

Background: Screening methods for childhood obesity are based largely on the published body mass index (BMI) criteria. Nonetheless, their accuracy in African children is largely unknown. The diagnostic accuracies of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the International Obesity Taskforce (IOTF) BMI-based criteria in defining obesity using deuterium dilution as a criterion method in a sample of Ghanaian children are presented. Methods: Data on anthropometric indices and percent body fat were collected from 183 children aged 8–11 years. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were calculated. The overall performance of the BMI criteria was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristics area under the curve (AUC). Results: Overall sensitivity of WHO, CDC, and IOTF were 59.4% (40.6–76.3), 53.1% (34.7–70.9), and 46.9% (29.1–65.3) respectively. The overall specificity was high, ranging from 98.7% by WHO to 100.0% by IOTF. The AUC were 0.936 (0.865–1.000), 0.924 (0.852–0.995), and 0.945 (0.879–1.000) by the WHO, CDC, and IOTF criteria respectively for the overall sample. Prevalence of obesity by the WHO, CDC, IOTF, and deuterium oxide-derived percent body fat were 11.5%, 10.4%, 8.2%, and 17.5% respectively, with significant positive correlations between the BMI z-scores and percent body fat. Conclusions: The BMI-based criteria were largely specific but with moderate sensitivity in detecting excess body fat in Ghanaian children. To improve diagnostic accuracy, direct measurement of body fat and other health risk factors should be considered in addition to BMI.

scholarly journals Performance of newly developed body mass index cut-off for diagnosing obesity among Ethiopian adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Makeda Sinaga ◽  
Tilahun Yemane ◽  
Elsah Tegene ◽  
David Lidstrom ◽  
Tefera Belachew
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Fat ◽  
World Health ◽  
Body Fat Percentage ◽  
Substantial Agreement ◽  
Fat Percentage ◽  
Predictive Values ◽  
Prevalence Of Obesity ◽  
Sensitivity Specificity

Abstract Background Obesity is defined as unhealthy excess body fat, which increases the risk of premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases. Early screening and prevention of obesity is critical for averting associated morbidity, disability, and mortality. Ethiopia has been using the international (WHO’s) BMI cut-off for diagnosing obesity even though its validity among Ethiopian population was questioned. To address this problem, a new body mass index cut-off was developed for Ethiopian adults using population-specific data. However, its performance in diagnosing obesity has not been validated. Therefore, this study determined the performance of the newly developed Ethiopian and World Health Organization (WHO) BMI cut-offs in detecting obesity among Ethiopian adults. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out among 704 employees of Jimma University from February to April 2015. The study participants were selected using simple random sampling technique based on their payroll. Data on sociodemographic variables were collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. Anthropometric parameters including body weight and height were measured according to WHO recommendation. Body fat percentage (BF%) was measured using the air displacement plethysmography (ADP) after calibration of the machine. The diagnostic accuracy of the WHO BMI cut-off (≥ 30 kg/m2) for obesity in both sexes and Ethiopian BMI cut-off (> 22.2 kg/m2 for males and >  24.5 kg/m2 for females) were compared to obesity diagnosed using ADP measured body fat percentage (> 35% for females and >  25% for males). Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and kappa agreements were determined to validate the performance of the BMI cut-offs. Results In males, WHO BMI cut-off has a sensitivity of 5.3% and specificity of 99.4% (Kappa = 0.047) indicating a slight agreement. However, the Ethiopian cut-off showed a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 87.7% (Kappa = 0.752) indicating a substantial agreement. Similarly, in females, the WHO BMI cut-off showed a sensitivity of 46.9%, while its specificity was 100% (Kappa = 0.219) showing a fair agreement. The Ethiopian BMI cut-off demonstrated a sensitivity 80.0% and a specificity 95.6% (Kappa = 0.701) showing a substantial agreement. The WHO BMI cut-off underestimated the prevalence of obesity by a maximum of 73.7% and by a minimum of 28.3% among males, while the values for underestimation ranged from 31.4–54.1% in females. The misclassification was minimal using the newly developed Ethiopian BMI cut-off. The prevalence of obesity was underestimated by a maximum of 9.2% and overestimated by a maximum of 6.2%. The WHO BMI cut-off failed to identify nearly half (46.6%) of Ethiopian adults who met the criteria for obesity using BF% in the overall sample. Conclusions The findings suggest that WHO BMI cut-off (≥ 30 kg/m2) is not appropriate for screening obesity among Ethiopian adults. The newly developed Ethiopian BMI cut-off showed a better performance with excellent sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and agreement indicating the diagnostic significance of it use as a simple, cost-effective, and valid indicator in clinical and community setups.

Limitations of body mass index for counseling individuals with unilateral lower extremity amputation

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra P Frost ◽  
Tracy Norman Giest ◽  
Allison A Ruta ◽  
Teresa K Snow ◽  
Mindy Millard-Stafford
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Lower Extremity ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Fat ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Dual Energy ◽  
Limb Loss ◽  
Percent Body Fat ◽  
X Ray

Background: Body composition is important for health screening, but appropriate methods for unilateral lower extremity amputees have not been validated. Objectives: To compare body mass index adjusted using Amputee Coalition equations (body mass index–Amputee Coalition) to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in unilateral lower limb amputees. Study design: Cross-sectional, experimental. Methods: Thirty-eight men and women with lower limb amputations (transfemoral, transtibial, hip disarticulation, Symes) participated. Body mass index (mass/height2) was compared to body mass index corrected for limb loss (body mass index–Amputee Coalition). Accuracy of classification and extrapolation of percent body fat with body mass index was compared to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: Body mass index–Amputee Coalition increased body mass index (by ~ 1.1 kg/m2) but underestimated and mis-classified 60% of obese and overestimated 100% of lean individuals according to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Estimated mean percent body fat (95% confidence interval) from body mass index–Amputee Coalition (28.3% (24.9%, 31.7%)) was similar to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry percent body fat (29.5% (25.2%, 33.7%)) but both were significantly higher ( p < 0.05) than percent body fat estimated from uncorrected body mass index (23.6% (20.4%, 26.8%)). However, total errors for body mass index and body mass index–Amputee Coalition converted to percent body fat were unacceptably large (standard error of the estimate = 6.8%, 6.2% body fat) and the discrepancy between both methods and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was inversely related ( r = −0.59 and r = −0.66, p < 0.05) to the individual’s level of body fatness. Conclusions: Body mass index (despite correction) underestimates health risk for obese patients and overestimates lean, muscular individuals with lower limb amputation. Clinical relevance Clinical recommendations for an ideal body mass based on body mass index–Amputee Coalition should not be relied upon in lower extremity amputees. This is of particular concern for obese lower extremity amputees whose health risk might be significantly underestimated based on body mass index despite a “correction” formula for limb loss.

A comparison of body mass index and percent body fat as predictors of cardiovascular risk factors

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 570-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosein Sheibani ◽  
Habibollah Esmaeili ◽  
Maryam Tayefi ◽  
Maryam Saberi-Karimian ◽  
Susan Darroudi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk Factors ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Fat ◽  
Percent Body Fat

Addressing the Public Health Epidemic of Childhood Obesity Using Public Schools as Health Education Learning Laboratories

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-24
Author(s):  
Darrell Norman Burrell ◽  
Jorja B. Wright ◽  
Clishia Taylor ◽  
Tiffiny Shockley ◽  
April Reaves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Fat ◽  
School Food ◽  
Index Reduction ◽  
Keywords And Phrases ◽  
Food Gardens

In our society, childhood obesity has become a pressing health issue. Childhood obesity occurs when children are considerably overweight for their age and height. Body mass index (BMI) is used to measure the percentage of body fat; therefore, the higher the BMI, the more body fat an individual has accompanied by the likelihood that the individual is obese. This research aims to address the factors that cause childhood obesity. A total of 116 journal articles were used for the development of this paper; the articles were analyzed and selected based on the occurrence of the following keywords and phrases: (1) childhood obesity, (2) social cognition theory, (3) telemedicine, and (4) nutrition education. The literature review showed a relationship between childhood obesity and body mass index (reduction, the use of telemedicine, and school food gardens). Using telemedicine video conferencing software and adding food gardens to public school curricula may be a strategy educators and policymakers can use to reduce the rate of childhood obesity.

Effect of sex and race on body mass index and percent body fat in young adults

Nutrition ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 63-64 ◽  
pp. 9-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Ch Saddam ◽  
Heidi M. Foster ◽  
Moge Zhang ◽  
Terezie T. Mosby
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Fat ◽  
Percent Body Fat

Percent Body Fat by Age, Sex, and Body Mass Index (BMI) in Minority Youth

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. S45
Author(s):  
H. Lee ◽  
I. Contento ◽  
P. Koch ◽  
E. Abrams ◽  
L. Mull ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Fat ◽  
Minority Youth ◽  
Percent Body Fat
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