title: Should body mass index be adjusted for relative sitting height in cross-sectional studies of chronic diseases in Japanese-Brazilians?
abstract: The current article aimed to verify the degree of agreement in classification of nutritional status according to body mass index (BMI) and corrected body mass index (BMIc). Data were used from a cross-sectional study of Japanese-Brazilians. Statistical analysis provided prevalence rates for chronic diseases, kappa statistic, and Pearson's linear correlation coefficient. Some 5.9% of Japanese-Brazilians were discordant according to the BMI and BMIc classifications. The weighted kappa statistic (0.94; p = 0.000) indicated good agreement between the classifications. Similar prevalence rates for chronic diseases were obtained for individuals with excess weight classified by these two indices. Similar Pearson's linear correlation coefficients were obtained for these indices and waist circumference and body fat measurements. The results suggest that BMI correction for relative sitting height is probably unnecessary for these individuals.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil. adriboucas@osite.com.br
authors.forename: Adriana Bouças
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Suely Godoy Agostinho
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Gimeno
authors.forename: Solange
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andreoni
authors.forename: Sandra Roberta Gouveia
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Ferreira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors