Citation
Long, Andrew E.; Prewitt, T. E.; Kaufman, Jay S.; Rotimi, Charles N.; Cooper, Richard S.; & McGee, Daniel L. (1998). Weight-Height Relationships among Eight Populations of West African Origin: The Case against Constant BMI Standards. International Journal of Obesity, 22(9), 842-846.Abstract
Objective: To ascertain whether constant body mass index (BMI) standards are appropriate in genetically similar populations.Design: Data are taken from the International Collaborative Study of Hypertension in Blacks (ICSHIB), an observational study.
Subjects: Individuals of African descent who were included in ICSHIB. Subjects lived in eight different sites: Barbados; Cameroon (urban and rural); Jamaica; Manchester, UK; Maywood, IL; urban Nigeria; and St Lucia.
Measurements: Weight and height.
Results: Constant BMI standards effectively argue for the constancy of slope of the linear regression equations of In(weight) on In(height) across populations. Linear regression results indicate that the height/weight relationship implied by the use of constant BMI standards, is not found in these populations and that there is much variation across groups.
Conclusion: The use of constant BMI standards in classifying individuals prognostically may be unwise, even in genetically similar populations.
URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800670Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
1998Journal Title
International Journal of ObesityAuthor(s)
Long, Andrew E.Prewitt, T. E.
Kaufman, Jay S.
Rotimi, Charles N.
Cooper, Richard S.
McGee, Daniel L.