Body mass index percentiles in adolescents of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, and their comparison with international parameters.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the percentile distribution of body mass index (BMI) in school adolescents, by gender and age, comparing them with international parameters.


METHODS
The study included 8,020 adolescents aged 10-15 years from 43 schools in the city of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. BMI values of the study sample were distributed in percentiles and compared to international parameters (CDC, Must and cols. and Cole and cols.).


RESULTS
Both male and female adolescents aged 10 to 14 years showed BMI cut-offs over the international parameters, especially in the P50-P85 percentile range. At the age of 15, the observed values were very similar to reference data; however, BMI values in the 95th percentile were much higher than international parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
The study results show how important it is to use adequate BMI values for Brazilian adolescents aged 10-15 since international parameters may not reflect the actual nutritional status of this group.
Centro de Atendimento e Apoio ao Adolescente, Departamento de Pediatria, Unifesp, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Maria Aparecida Zanetti
MA
Passos
Isa de Pádua
Ide P
Cintra
Lúcia Maria
LM
Branco
Helymar da Costa
Hda C
Machado
Mauro
M
Fisberg
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017678:Sex Distribution