title: [Applicability of BMI in adolescent students living at moderate altitude of Perú].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The use of BMI is highly contested, especially in populations in which growth phase is characterized by short stature for his age. The aim is to verify if the BMI is applicable to a school sample of adolescents living in a region of moderate altitude of Peru.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive cross-sectional study in 319 adolescent students (181 men and 138 women) from 12.0 to 17.9 years of age. Anthropometric variables of height and weight were evaluated. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. The CDC -2000 reference was used to compare weight and height from Z- score and BMI by mean difference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Z - score showed body weight to small variations (from -0.3 to 0.3 kg). In stature negative values for both sexes (men between -0.3 to -1.3 cm and women between -0.5 to 1.3 cm) is observed. For BMI, there were significant differences in all ages and in both sexes (p.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias de la Actividad Física, Universidad Católica del Maule, Chile. Red Iberoamericana de Investigación en Desarrollo Biológico Humano REIIDEBIHU.. mcossio1972@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Marco Antonio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cossio Bolaños
authors.affiliation: Institución Educativa Antonio José de Sucre 40048, Arequipa, Perú. Red Iberoamericana de Investigación en Desarrollo Biológico Humano REIIDEBIHU.. pesquisadore2010@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Viveros Flores
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Educación Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Campinas, Sao Paulo. Brasil.. pesquisadores2010@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jefferson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eduardo Hespanhol
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad Estadual de Campinas, Sao Paulo. Brasil.. pesquisadores2010@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Cristiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Educación Física de la Universidad Estadual de Campinas, Sao Paulo. Brasil.. rossanagomez_c@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gomez Campos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000531:Altitude; D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010568:Peru; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students