Comparison of different reference tables and threshold values of body mass indices for the estimation of the prevalence of overweight, underweight, and obesity in schoolchildren

The objective of the present work was to compare the prevalence of overweight, underweight, and obesity in 725 children and adolescents residing in the city of Minsk based on a variety of reference tables and criteria for body mass index ( BMI ). It was shown that the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) in the total group varied from 17.3% (Centre for disease Control and Prevention, CDC) to 25.6% (France) and that of obesity from 3.9% (International Obesity Task Force, IOTF) to 13.8% (France). The prevalence of underweight was estimated at 2.6% to 8.4% (WHO SD and IOFT respectively). There was an excellent agreement between the data of the BMI percentile tables constructed at Grodno, Republic of Belarus (2000) and WHO (2007). The study has demonstrated the high prevalence of overweight in Belorussian schoolchildren whatever type of reference BMI tables is used whereas the prevalence of obesity and underweight varies considerably depending on the BMI criteria employed for its estimation.