Obesity in Children Remains Significant Clinical Problem

Background: The usual measurement of obesity in adults relies mostly on body mass index (BMI), even though other methods such as the WHR (waist-height ratio) have been proposed and are used in some institutions. BMI in pediatric patients may overestimate the prevalence of obesity unless combined with other measures such as excess adiposity. Objective: To determine the prevalence of excess adiposity associated with obesity in several ethnic groups of children. Design: Cohort study. Participants: 183 Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC) participants, aged 8 to 17 years, recruited between 2014 and 2023. Age- and gender-matched children in groups of Mexican American, non-Hispanic white, and non-Hispanic black were compared for the years 2013 to 2018. Methods: Excess adiposity was defined as BMI ≥120% of the 95 th percentile, a WHR >0.50, or elevated fat mass index (FMI) >90 th percentile for gender/age. FMI was defined as total fat mass divided by height squared. The prevalence of ob more...