title: [Nutritional status of adolescents in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, assessed by national and international criteria].
abstract: This study sought to compare national and international criteria for assessing the nutritional status of adolescents. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the period from July 2007 to January 2008 with a representative sample comprised of 1256 adolescents from the state of Maranhão. Body mass index (BMI) for age and gender was used to diagnose underweight, normal weight and overweight, using the criteria proposed by Conde and Monteiro and the World Health Organization (WHO). Chi-square, McNemar concordance and Spearman correlation tests were applied. According to the criteria of Conde and Monteiro and the WHO, there were significant differences among the boys with respect to low weight and obesity. It was observed that there was no significant divergence between the two criteria, and a significant positive correlation (0.011) between the two criteria was detected. With this analysis it can be seen that there are many divergences between the criteria used, therefore the best option and the advantage of using one or the other cannot be singled out. However, it should be stressed that the national criterion can also be used more, since there are no significant differences with the criteria advocated by the Ministry of Health of the WHO.
authors.forename: Andréa Suzana Vieira
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Maria Bethânia da Costa
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Chein
authors.forename: Sueli Rosina
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Tonial
authors.forename: Mônica Elinor Alves
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gama
authors.forename: Maylla Luanna Barbosa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Carlos Leonardo Figueiredo
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Diego Salvador Muniz
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto Silva
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Luciane Maria Oliveira
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Brito
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012016:Reference Values; D014944:World Health Organization