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Age, sex and ethnic differences in the prevalence of underweight and overweight, defined by using the CDC and IOTF cut points in Asian children

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 63, pages 1305–1312 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

No nationally representative data from middle- and low-income countries have been analyzed to compare the prevalence of underweight and overweight, defined by using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the International Obesity TaskForce (IOTF) body mass index cut points.

Objective:

To examine the consistency in the prevalence of underweight and overweight, defined by using the CDC and IOTF cut points in Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese children.

Methods:

We used data from 1600 Chinese, 11 756 Indonesian and 53 826 Vietnamese children aged 2–18 years, who participated in three recent, representative surveys in China, Indonesia and Vietnam. A smaller difference between prevalence and a higher κ-statistic indicated a higher consistency level.

Results:

The prevalence of underweight was higher with the IOTF than the CDC cut points; absolute differences in the Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese were 6, 10 and 13% (boys), and 10, 13 and 19% (girls), respectively. The prevalence of overweight was more consistent (absolute differences were <2%, except for the 2–5.9-year-old Chinese and Indonesian children (from 2 to <5%)). Values of κ-statistic (from 0.55 to 0.88) varied by age, sex and ethnicity. The consistency was gradually improving from the Vietnamese to Indonesians and to Chinese boys and girls, from girls to boys, from the younger to older boys and from the older to younger girls.

Conclusions:

The age, sex and ethnic differences in the prevalence of underweight and overweight suggest a systematic evaluation of the cut points.

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Acknowledgements

The study was finally supported by the Vietnam Educational Foundation (VEF) and the USDA ARS CRIS 6250-51000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, USDA/ARS, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    N T Tuan & T A Nicklas

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  1. N T Tuan
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  2. T A Nicklas
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Correspondence to N T Tuan.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition website (http://www.nature.com/ejcn)

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Tuan, N., Nicklas, T. Age, sex and ethnic differences in the prevalence of underweight and overweight, defined by using the CDC and IOTF cut points in Asian children. Eur J Clin Nutr 63, 1305–1312 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.90

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