Centiles of anthropometric measures of adiposity for 14- to 18-year-old urban Asian Indian adolescents

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/m²) 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.