AUTHOR=López-Sánchez Guillermo Felipe , Sgroi Maurizio , D’Ottavio Stefano , Díaz-Suárez Arturo , González-Víllora Sixto , Veronese Nicola , Smith Lee 

TITLE=Body Composition in Children and Adolescents Residing in Southern Europe: Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity According to Different International References

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2019

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.00130

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2019.00130

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=The objective was to analyze body composition in children and adolescents of Southern Europe, studying prevalence of overweight and obesity. This investigation involved 512 girls and 488 boys between 7-to 19-years old. Variables evaluated were Body Mass Index (BMI) and Fat Mass (FM; electrical bioimpedance). The references used to establish the prevalence according to BMI were those of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF); in the case of FM, the Child Growth Foundation (CGF) reference. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the prevalence of overweight and obesity between the three classifications (32.3% according to IOTF, 37.3% according to WHO and 39.8% according to CGF), being higher in males. WHO-IOTF concordance was substantial (kappa=0.793), whereas concordances WHO-CGF (kappa=0.504) and IOTF-CGF (kappa=0.447) were moderate. The authors recommend evaluating overweight and obesity not only with BMI, but also with FM, and always specify the references used.