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BMI, Waist Circumference Reference Values for Chinese School-Aged Children and Adolescents

Author

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  • Peige Song

    (School of Public Health, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China
    Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK)

  • Xue Li

    (School of Public Health, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China
    Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK)

  • Danijela Gasevic

    (Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK)

  • Ana Borges Flores

    (School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AD, UK)

  • Zengli Yu

    (School of Public Health, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China)

Abstract

Background : Childhood obesity has become one of the most serious public health challenges in the 21st century in most developing countries. The percentile curve tool is useful for monitoring and screening obesity at population level, however, in China, no official recommendations on childhood body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) reference percentiles have been made in practice. Aims : to construct the percentile reference values for BMI and WC, and then to calculate the prevalence of overall and abdominal obesity for Chinese children and adolescents. Methods : A total of 5062 anthropometric records for children and adolescents aged from 7 to 18 years (2679 boys and 2383 girls) were included for analysis. The participants were recruited as part of the national representative “China Health and Nutrition Survey” (CHNS). Age, gender, weight, height, and WC were assessed. Smoothed BMI and WC percentile curves and values for the 3rd, 5th, 10th, 15th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 85th, 90th, 95th and 97th percentiles were constructed by using the Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) method. The prevalence estimates of the overall and abdominal obesity were calculated by using the cut-offs from our CHNS study and the previous “Chinese National Survey on Students’ Constitution and Health” (CNSSCH) study, respectively. The difference between prevalence estimates was tested by a McNemar test, and the agreement between these prevalence estimates was calculated by using the Cohen’s kappa coefficient. Results : The prevalence values of overall obesity based on the cut-offs from CHNS and CNSSCH studies were at an almost perfect agreement level in boys (κ = 0.93). However, among girls, the overall obesity prevalence differed between the studies ( p < 0.001) and the agreement was weaker (κ = 0.76). The abdominal obesity prevalence estimates were significant different according to the two systems both in boys and girls, although the agreement reached to 0.88, which represented an almost perfect agreement level. Conclusions : This study provided new BMI and WC percentile curves and reference values for Chinese children and adolescents aged 7–18 years, which can be adopted in future researches. Large longitudinal study is still needed to reveal the childhood growth pattern and validate the inconsistence between different percentile studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Peige Song & Xue Li & Danijela Gasevic & Ana Borges Flores & Zengli Yu, 2016. "BMI, Waist Circumference Reference Values for Chinese School-Aged Children and Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:6:p:589-:d:71947
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    Cited by:

    1. Datis Khajeheian & Amir Mohammad Colabi & Nordiana Binti Ahmad Kharman Shah & Che Wan Jasimah Bt Wan Mohamed Radzi & Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi, 2018. "Effect of Social Media on Child Obesity: Application of Structural Equation Modeling with the Taguchi Method," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, June.
    2. Regina Lai-Tong Lee & Cynthia Leung & Hong Chen & Lobo H. T. Louie & Michael Brown & Jyu-Lin Chen & Gordon Cheung & Paul H. Lee, 2017. "The Impact of a School-Based Weight Management Program Involving Parents via mHealth for Overweight and Obese Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disability: A Randomized Controlled Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Che Wan Jasimah Wan Mohamed Radzi & Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi & Ayed R. A. Alanzi & Mohd Istajib Mokhtar & Mohd Zufri Mamat & Nor Aishah Abdullah, 2019. "Analysis of Obesity among Malaysian University Students: A Combination Study with the Application of Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling and Pearson Correlation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Wei-Ning Hu & Dong-Yue Li & Wing-Kai Lam & Yi Wang & Duo Wai-Chi Wong & James Chung-Wai Cheung, 2022. "Physical Fitness of Chinese Primary School Students across the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Retrospective Repeated Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Hui Huang & Che Wan Jasimah bt Wan Mohamed Radzi & Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi, 2017. "Family Environment and Childhood Obesity: A New Framework with Structural Equation Modeling," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Peige Song & Jinyue Yu & Manli Wang & Xinlei Chang & Jiawen Wang & Lin An, 2017. "Prevalence and Correlates of Suspected Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Chinese Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-10, April.
    7. Regina L.T. Lee & Wai Tong Chien & Jason Ligot & Jennifer M. Nailes & Keiko Tanida & Sachi Takeuchi & Masanori Ikeda & Sachiyo Miyagawa & Toshisaburo Nagai & Rutja Phuphaibul & Chatsiri Mekviwattanawo, 2020. "Associations Between Quality of Life, Psychosocial Well-being and Health-Related Behaviors Among Adolescents in Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Thai and the Filipino Populations: A Cross-Sectional Surve," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Yue Ma & Liping Peng & Changgui Kou & Shucheng Hua & Haibo Yuan, 2017. "Associations of Overweight, Obesity and Related Factors with Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders and Snoring in Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-10, February.

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