Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Short Communication
  • Published:

Expert opinion on body mass index percentiles for figure drawings at menarche

International Journal of Obesity volume 26, pages 876–879 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

We contacted clinicians and researchers who work in the area of childhood obesity to obtain a reasonable estimate of body mass index (BMI) percentile at menarche associated with a series of widely used figure drawings. Forty of 108 subscribers to the electronic listserv of the Pediatric Obesity Interest Group of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity responded to a request to estimate the BMI percentile at menarche for each of seven drawings. Median BMI percentile values ranged from three to 98 and means from 4.0 to 97.6, with the greatest agreement at the high end and the poorest agreement in the central part of the range. This approach may be useful in situations where weight and height are not readily recalled.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Stunkard AJ, Sorensen T, Schulsinger F . Use of the Danish Adoption Register for the study of obesity and thinness In: Kety SS, Rowland LP, Sidman SW, Mathysee SW (eds) The genetics of neurological and psychiatric disorders Raven Press: New York 1983 pp 115–120.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Williamson DA . Assessment of eating disorders: obesity, anoriexia, and bulimia nervosa Pergamon Press: New York 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Collins ME . Body figure perceptions and preferences among preadolescent children Int J Eating Disord 1991 10: 199–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Berkey CS, Frazier AL, Gardner JD, Colditz GA . Adolescence and breast carcinoma risk Cancer 1999 85: 2400–2409.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Munoz KA, Ballard-Barbash R, Graubard B, Swanson CA, Schairer C, Kahle LL . Recall of body weight and body size estimation in women enrolled in the Breast Cancer Detection and Demonstration Project (BCDDP) Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1996 20: 854–859.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Must A, Phillips SM, Naumova EN, Blum M, Harris S, Dawson-Hughes B, Rand WM . Recall of early menstrual history and menarcheal body size: after 30 years, how well do women remember? Am J Epidemiol 2002 (in press)

  7. Marti-Henneberg C, Vizmanos B . The duration of puberty in girls is related to the timing of its onset J Pediatr 1997 131: 618–621.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Marshall WA . Puberty In: Falkner F (ed) Human growth Plenum Press: New York 1978 pp 161–162.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC growth charts: United States 2000.

  10. Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH . Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey Br Med J 2000 320: 1240–1243.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ricciardelli LA, McCabe MP . Children's body image concerns and eating disturbance: a review of the literature Clin Psychol Rev 2001 21: 325–344.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Caldwell MB, Brownell KD, Wilfley DE . Relationship of weight, body dissatisfaction, and self-esteem in African American and white female dieters Int J Eating Disord 1997 22: 127–130.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Wilfley DE, Schreiber GB, Pike KM, Striegel-Moore RH, Wright DJ, Rodin J . Eating disturbance and body image: a comparison of a community sample of adult black and white women Int J Eating Disord 1996 20: 377–387.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Parnell K, Sargent R, Thompson SH, Duhe SF, Valois RF, Kemper RC . Black and white adolescent females' perceptions of ideal body size J School Health 1996 66: 112–118.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Schreiber GB, Robins M, Striegel-Moore R, Obarzanek E, Morrison JA, Wright DJ . Weight modification efforts reported by black and white preadolescent girls: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study Pediatrics 1996 98: 63–70.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Tversky A, Kahneman D . Judgement under uncertainty: heuristics and biases Science 1974 185: 1124–1131.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Barlow SE, Dietz WH . Obesity evaluation and treatment: expert committee recommendations Pediatrics 1998 102: 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the participation and thoughtful comments of the members of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity's Pediatric Obesity Interest Group listserv.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    A Must, SM Phillips & EN Naumova

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    AJ Stunkard

Authors
  1. A Must
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. SM Phillips
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. AJ Stunkard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. EN Naumova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Must.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Must, A., Phillips, S., Stunkard, A. et al. Expert opinion on body mass index percentiles for figure drawings at menarche. Int J Obes 26, 876–879 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801986

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801986

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links