Reliability of calculating body mass index centile.
OBJECTIVE
Body mass index (BMI) centile is recommended for assessing body fatness in children. We compared the reliability of two methods of deriving BMI centile.


METHODS
A total of 42 dietitians calculated the BMI centiles of six children, half using the Cole Calculator (a slide rule) and half calculating by hand and plotting on the BMI centile chart.


RESULTS
The centile chart method was more reliable than the Cole Calculator, probably due to its greater familiarity.
Poustie
V J
VJ
Department of Public Health, University of Liverpool, UK. v.poustie@liv.ac.uk
Smyth
R L
RL
Cole
T J
TJ
D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results