Using Body Mass Index of Adolescents as Predictor Variable in Research: A Word of Caution

  • Dr. Himel Mondal Department of Physiology, MKCG Medical College, Ganjam ‑ 760 004, Odisha, India.
Keywords: Nil

Abstract

Body mass index (BMI) is commonly used parameter to measure obesity indirectly due to its convenience of measurement and sufficient correlation with direct measure of total body fat.[1] Although this surrogate marker does not differentiate between fat mass and fat‑free mass, its applicability is still supported by the World Health Organization (WHO). One of the major advantages of using BMI is that there is globally accepted normative value for BMI. There is also accepted BMI range for Asian population, which is slightly different than global range due to higher risk of cardiovascular disease in lower range of BMI in Asian population.[2] In researches, BMI can be used to categorize the population in groups (e.g. normal, overweight, and obese,). Then, investigators can use the categorical data to test the outcome variable statistically. However, researchers can use body fat to determine the relationship between body fat and another continuous variable among a single group of population. But facility of body fat measurement is not available in many settings. In addition, BMI can be determined with a simple weighing scale and a stadiometer. Read more...

Published
2017-03-31
How to Cite
Mondal, D. H. (2017). Using Body Mass Index of Adolescents as Predictor Variable in Research: A Word of Caution. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Physiology, 4(1), 51-52. Retrieved from https://ijcep.org/index.php/ijcep/article/view/174