Distribution of BMI in children: prevalence of wasting and fattening conditions

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Abstract
This paper reports a study of body-mass index (weight/height2) frequency distribution in 2858 schoolchildren (1440 males, 1418 females), 6-14 years old: (a) not taking into account the degree of skewness (z-score) and (b) taking it into account (LMS method by Cole). The z-score detected no evident problems of severe wasting conditions, but did detect the presence of severe fattening conditions. The LMS method gave a more balanced distribution. Methods that do not take into account the degree of skewness should be avoided in estimates concerning prevalence of wasting and stunting conditions.

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