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Reliability of calculating body mass index centile

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 59, pages 717–719 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

Body mass index (BMI) centile is recommended for assessing body fatness in children. We compared the reliability of two methods of deriving BMI centile.

Method:

A total of 42 dietitians calculated the BMI centiles of six children, half using the Cole Calculator (a slide rule) and half calculating by hand and plotting on the BMI centile chart.

Results:

The centile chart method was more reliable than the Cole Calculator, probably due to its greater familiarity.

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References

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Acknowledgements

We thank the UK Dietitians Cystic Fibrosis Interest Group for participating in the study, the Child Growth Foundation for supplying the Cole Calculators and BMI charts, and the UK Cystic Fibrosis Trust for funding VJP during the period of study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    V J Poustie

  2. Department of Child Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    R L Smyth

  3. Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, London, UK

    T J Cole

Authors
  1. V J Poustie
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  2. R L Smyth
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  3. T J Cole
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to V J Poustie.

Additional information

Guarantor: VJ Poustie.

Contributors: VJP and TJC devised the study and analysed the results. VJP carried out the study under the supervision of RLS, and wrote the first draft of the paper. All authors were involved in critical revision of the paper.

Competing interests: TJC designed the Cole Calculator, which can be obtained through the Child Growth Foundation (http://www.healthforallchildren.co.uk/).

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Poustie, V., Smyth, R. & Cole, T. Reliability of calculating body mass index centile. Eur J Clin Nutr 59, 717–719 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602101

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602101

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