Body Mass Index of Saudi Children Ages Six to 16 Years From the Eastern Province

Abstract

Body mass index (BMI) is generally accepted as a useful index of various clinical situations related to obesity. However, there are no reference BMI charts for Saudi children; this paper is an attempt to establish these. A total of 21,638 Saudi schoolchildren between ages six to 16 years (49.6% males) were studied. Curves for BMI, seven percentiles -5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th -were constructed. As a reference material, BMI data for American children were modified into Hegira years. It was found that, in agreement with others, the BMI for the Saudi children studied was age-and gender-dependent. Comparison between Saudi data and international reference showed the expected genetic influence. These results remain to be compared with those from other regions in the Kingdom. Ann Saudi Med 1994;14(6):495-498. Province. 1994; 14(6): 495-498 Body mass index (BMI) can be used to predict future obesity 1 and is useful as an index of obesity during childhood 2 and as a measure of weight relative to stature. 3 Moreover, correlation between repeated measurements of BMI on the same individuals is higher than other measures of adiposity such as skinfold thickness. 4 In addition, BMI is easier to measure and can be readily derived from routinely recorded height and weight. Thus, it is available for use in retrospective studies. GM Magbool, Body Mass Index of Saudi Children Ages Six to 16 Years from The EasternHowever, there is no previous publication on reference BMI for Saudi children. This study is an attempt to develop such BMI curves for six-to 16-year-olds. Material and MethodsThe study was conducted in four districts in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia -Dammam, Al-Khobar, Qatif and Al-Hassa -which included rural and urban areas. The population consisted of schoolchildren between six and 16 years of age who had been shown to be free of musculoskeletal deformity on physical examination. The sampling was two-staged, cluster and cross-sectional; details have been described elsewhere. 5Standard techniques were employed to measure height and weight.5 Thus, with boys in underclothes and girls in light gown, the children were weighed barefoot on a Secalever type scale (made in Germany) which can read to the nearest 100 g. It was calibrated at the beginning of each working day and taring was done at each weighing.Height was measured to the nearest 0.1 cm using the measuring rod attached to the same weighing scale with a slide headpiece. The child stood on the platform with heels touching and feet at an angle of 45°. Heels, buttocks, shoulders, and occiput were made to touch the vertical rod. The head was held erect with the external auditory meatus and the lower border of the orbit in one horizontal plane. The headpiece was then lowered until it lightly touched the hair. All readings were taken before 11:00 a.m. BMI or Quetelet index was derived using the formula BMI = weight(kg)/height(m) 2 . A second derivation was required. The children's ages had been registered in Hegira years (which are 11 days shorter...

Prevalence of Obesity in the Saudi Population

“…Females were lower than the American females before puberty (11-13 years), but thereafter, were higher. 36,11 The results of this study have also revealed that obesity and overweight are frequently encountered in all provinces of Saudi population, where the females are more obese than the males. The highest prevalence is in the Central Province (24.40%), and males and females in the Western Province (16.65%), while the lowest prevalence in both males and females is in the Southwestern Province.…”

Body mass index, overweight and obesity among Kuwaiti intermediate school adolescents aged 10–14 years

“…By comparison, obesity among Canadians of similar age has been found to be 29% (Young et al, 2000). It was 19.7% among Dutch adolescents (Weststrate et al, 1989), 18% among American NHANES II (Gauthier et al, 2000), 26% among Italians (Falorni et al, 1998), 24% among New Zealanders (Williams, 2000), 7.7% among Brazilians (Neutzling et al, 2000) and 26% among Saudi adolescents aged 10-14 y (Magbool, 1994). From these cited studies, it appears that Kuwaiti adolescents take the lead in the level of obesity.…”

Body Mass Index in Saudi Arabian Children and Adolescents: A National Reference and Comparison with International Standards

“…blood pressure. 9,17 Among the various tools to assess overweight and obesity, BMI has therefore become more frequently used during the last few decades. BMI is affected by ethnicity.…”

“…5 Several attempts have been made to establish BMI curves for Saudi children and adolescents but none were thorough and representative. [6][7][8][9] In this study, we present reference BMI curves for normal Saudi children and adolescents and compare it to the WHO and the CDC curves. …”