Body mass index references for Turkish children.
OBJECTIVE
To construct the body mass index reference curves for Turkish children aged 6 to 18 y, and to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity.


METHODS
Height and weight measurements of healthy schoolchildren (1,100 boys, 1,019 girls) were obtained biannually. Body mass index was calculated from 11,648 height and weight measurements. Centile curves were constructed using the LMS method.


RESULTS
The smoothed percentile values and curves for body mass index in Turkish children show that there is a constant increase in body mass index values towards adulthood, especially during the pubertal years, in both sexes. The prevalence of overweight is 25% and obesity 4% in boys at age 18 y. The percentage of overweight and obesity in girls at age 14 was 15% and 1%, respectively. The sample size was too small to come to any conclusion regarding these rates at 18 y of age.


CONCLUSIONS
This study presents data and curves for body mass index values in healthy Turkish children aged 6 to 18 y. The values are in compliance with those of Western countries.
Bundak
Ruveyde
R
Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. bruveyde@istanbul.edu.tr
Furman
Andrzej
A
Gunoz
Hulya
H
Darendeliler
Feyza
F
Bas
Firdevs
F
Neyzi
Olcay
O
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology