Aim: This study aimed to develop age- and sex-specific reference values for body mass index (BMI), percentage body fat (%BF), waist circumference, waist-to-hip circumference ratio, and triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses for 14- to 18-year-old urban Asian Indians and to develop BMI cut-off points using specific centiles linked to the adult BMI cut-off points.
Methods: A cross-sectional population survey of adolescents and young adults (14-25 years of age) in North India included 684 boys and 541 girls. Smoothed 5(th), 10(th), 25(th), 50(th), 75(th), 85(th), 90(th), and 95(th) percentiles for the various anthropometric parameters were derived using the least mean squares (LMS) method for constructing normalized growth standards. Age-sex specific cut-off values for body mass index for 14-17 years were obtained corresponding to the centiles that pass through BMI (kg/m(2)) of 23, 25, 27.5, and 30 at 18 years of age.
Results: In most instances, the centiles of BMI and waist circumference were lower and those of %BF and triceps and subscapular skinfolds were higher than those recorded in the populations of United States and Canada. The age- and sex-specific BMI cut-off points in 14- to 18-year-old Asian Indian adolescents are also described for the first time.
Conclusions: These reference data could be used to identify adolescents with an elevated risk of developing obesity-related disorders and provide a baseline for future studies of temporal trends.