Standardized percentile curves of body mass index of Iranian children compared to the US population reference

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To present standardized percentile curves of body mass index (BMI) for Iranian children, and compare these to the US population reference. SUBJECTS: 1599 boys and 1702 girls aged 2 ± 18 y living in urban Tehran as a part of a random cluster sample survey of 1 in 1000 families throughout Iran. MEASUREMENTS: Heights (cm) and weights (kg) were collected by trained health staff. RESULTS: Standardized BMI reference curves for Iranian boys and girls were constructed. The curves are shown to ®t the data well. The development pattern of BMI for boys and girls are compared. CONCLUSIONS: The major differences observed between Iranian and the US BMI charts underline the need for population-speci®c reference data. For children over six years the 5th and 95th percentiles of our data may be used provisionally as cut-off points for de®ning thinness and obesity for Iranian children and adolescents.

Cross-sectional reference values for height, weight and body mass index of schoolchildren living in Tehran, Iran

“…Growth charts used in Iran as reference standards are the US reference curves (2000CDC Growth Charts: NCHS 2004. Previous local studies propounded the need to use charts derived from local data (Hosseini et al 1999;Ayatollahi 2003). There are a few Iranian studies of growth at various ages carried out on limited numbers of children in different parts of the country (Taghi Ayatollahi and Carpenter 1991;Ayatollahi 1995;Hosseini et al 1998;Aminorroaya et al 2002Aminorroaya et al , 2003.…”

Clustering of metabolic abnormalities in adolescents with the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype

“…On the basis of the standardized percentile curves of BMI suggested for Iranian children and adolescents, overweight was defined as ͧ95th percentile of BMI for age and sex (37). Risk of overweight was defined as ͧ85th to 95th percentile of BMI for age and sex, and normal weight was defined as 85th percentile of BMI for age and sex.…”

Coronary artery disease in Iranian overweight women

“…However, overweight in childhood and adolescents may be an important factor for early development of coronary artery disease [10,11]. Indeed, recent studies showed that overweight has increased among Iranian children and adolescent girls [12,13] as well as young adult women in Iran over the last two decades [14]. Furthermore, available data indicated that sex difference in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Iranian adolescents is greater than those reported in developed countries [13,15].…”