BMI status relative to international and national growth references among Pakistani school-age girls
Abstract Background A sizable proportion of school going children from developing countries has abnormal growth parameters, which are often not standardized with international reference values. We intended to evaluate the prevalence of BMI status in schoolgirls of the Punjab by using international and national references. Methods In this population based cross-sectional study, 10,050 school-going girls aged 8–16 years from 12 districts of northern, central and southern Punjab were recruited. Estimates of normal weight, underweight, overweight and obesity were calculated in the girls according to three international BMI references including centres for disease control (CDC) 2000, international obesity task force (IOTF) 2012 and world health organisation (WHO) 2007 in addition to national reference for population under study. We used Cohen’s kappa statistics to analyse agreement of our data with reference values. Results There was marked overestimation of underweight (23.9%, 14.5%, 15.2% and 4.37%), slight underestimation of overweight (5.3%, 7.3%, 7.9% and 8.97%) and moderate underestimation of obesity (1.9%, 1.5%, 2.2% and 5.67%) according to CDC, IOTF, WHO and local reference, respectively. When the weight status of the study cohort was compared with the local data, we found comparable results in all the four weight categories. Conclusion We recommend selection of appropriate reference to estimate prevalence of weight status in school-age girls for devising strategies for public health policy and management.