Introduction: The use of body mass index to assess obesity in children

The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) was established in 1994 to addr ess the increase in the worldwide prevalence of obesity. The goals of the I OTF are to I) raise awareness in the population and among governments that obesity is a serious medical condition, 2) develop policy recommendations f or a coherent and effective global approach to the management and preventio n of obesity, and 3) implement appropriate strategies to manage and prevent obesity on a population basis worldwide. To assess the global prevalence o f obesity in children and adolescents, the IOTF convened a workshop on chil dhood obesity to determine the most appropriate measurement to assess obesi ty in populations of children and adolescents around the world. At the work shop, a variety of issues related to this problem were considered-including the best measure of fatness, the effect of application of a variety of exi sting standards on the prevalence of obesity in the same population, and th e role of factors such as visceral adiposity and natural history in the def inition of obesity. This article and those that follow represent the inform ation presented at the workshop. The workshop concluded that the body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) offered a reasonable measure with which to assess f atness in children and adolescents and that the standards used to identify overweight and obesity in children and adolescents should agree with the st andards used to identify grade 1 and grade 2 overweight (BMI of 25 and 30, respectively) in adults.