Scaling of adult body weight to height across sex and race/ethnic groups: relevance to BMI.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Body mass index (BMI) is formulated on the assumption that body weight (BW) scales to height with a power of 2 (BW∝height(2)), independent of sex and race-ethnicity. Powers differing from 2 are observed in studies of selected samples, thus raising the question if BMI is a generalizable metric that makes BW independent of height across populations.

Objectives

The objectives were to test the hypothesis that adult BW scales to height with a power of 2 independent of sex and race-ethnicity and to advance an understanding of BMI as a measure of shape by extending allometric analyses to waist circumference (WC).

Design

We conducted cross-sectional subject evaluations, including body composition, from the NHANES and the Korean NHANES (KNHANES). Variations of the a

SUBMITTER: Heymsfield SB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4232013 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature