No abstract

Although BMI is the most widely used measure of obesity, debate still exists on how accurately BMI defines obesity. In this study, adiposity status defined by BMI and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) was compared in a large population to evaluate the accuracy of BMI. A total of 1,691 adult volunteers from Newfoundland and Labrador participated in the study. BMI and body fat percentage (%BF) were measured for all subjects following a 12‐h fasting period. Subjects were categorized as underweight (UW), normal weight (NW), overweight (OW), or obese (OB) based on BMI and %BF criteria. Differences between the two methods were compared within gender and by age‐groups. According to BMI criteria, 1.2% of women were classified as UW, 44.2% as NW, 34.2% as OW, and 20.3% as OB. When women were classified according to %BF criteria, 2.2% were UW, 29.6% were NW, 30.9% were OW, and 37.1% were OB. The overall discrepancy between the two methods for women was substantial at 34.7% (14.6% for NW and 16.8% for OB, P < 0.001). In men, the overall discrepancy was 35.2% between BMI and DXA (17.6% for OW and 13.5% for OB, P < 0.001). Misclassification by BMI was dependent on age, gender, and adiposity status. In conclusion, BMI misclassified adiposity status in approximately one‐third of women and men compared with DXA. Caution should be taken when BMI is used in clinical and scientific research as well as clinical practice.

articles epidemiology has been reported in the literature when using a more accurate index of adiposity. At the present time, little is known regarding the differences in the prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors among individuals classified using BMI vs. %BF adiposity classifications. The objectives of the study were as follows: (i) compare the prevalence of cardiometabolic abnormalities in a large cohort using BMI vs. %BF criteria; and (ii) determine whether the discrepancy in the prevalence of these metabolic abnormalities is influenced by gender.Methods and Procedures subjects Subjects (n = 1,981) were recruited from an ongoing large scale nutrigenomics study (CODING study) (11,(15)(16)(17)(18). Participants ≤19 years old were excluded as BMI and %BF criteria are specific to those 20 years of age and older (n = 29). All underweight individuals were excluded as well (n = 45) leaving a final sample size of 1,907 (n = 1,464 women, n = 443 men). All volunteers were from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (i) between the ages of 20 and 79 years old; (ii) at least third generation Newfoundlander; (iii) healthy, without any serious metabolic, cardiovascular, or endocrine diseases; and (iv) not pregnant at the time of the study. The Human Investigation Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland (St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada) approved the study and all subjects provided written and informed consent.

BACKGROUND:Pediatric endocrinopathies are commonly diagnosed and monitored by measuring hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Because growth and development can markedly influence normal circulating concentrations of fertility hormones, accurate reference intervals established on the basis of a healthy, nonhospitalized pediatric population and that reflect age-, gender-, and pubertal stage-specific changes are essential for test result interpretation.