Methods of measuring obesity, with special emphasis on children adolescents

Abstract EN

Several methods are used to determine obesity.

The aim of this paper was to highlight the main methods used to measure obesity, with special emphasis on children and adolescents.

Anthropometric measurements are widely used and these include weight and height, relative weight, body mass index, skinfold thickness, waist and waist-hip circumference ratio.

The visibility and accuracy of these methods were briefly discussed.

The classification of obesity based on weight and height and body mass index (BMI) for children was highlighted.

In this region and due to lack of facilities and trained people, simple methods such as BMI is recommended to be used, especially with the availability of international reference data for BMI.