Abstract: A Presentation of Alternatively Assessed BMI Scores and Obesity Cut off Percentiles Among a Sample of Italian Youth, Considerations for Prevention and Practice (Society for Prevention Research 21st Annual Meeting)
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142 A Presentation of Alternatively Assessed BMI Scores and Obesity Cut off Percentiles Among a Sample of Italian Youth, Considerations for Prevention and Practice

Schedule:
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Pacific D-O (Hyatt Regency San Francisco)
* noted as presenting author
Enrique Ortega, PhD, Assistant Professor, California State University Dominguez Hills, Alhambra, CA
Jenese Marie Girgis, BA, Student, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Laguna Beach, CA
Chiara Landsman, BA, Student, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA
Danilo Marasso, MA, Student, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Emanuela Rabaglietti, PhD, Research Associate, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Studies have shown that youth overweight and obesity are currently a major health issue in Italy. More than 24% of Italian youth have been reported to be overweight or obese. Nonetheless, while BMI is the most common measure for prevalence of overweight and obesity in youth, there is no agreement about the measurement of BMI across different countries.  The different approaches to BMI measurements have shown to dramatically change the reported prevalence of overweight and obesity among samples of youth in different countries. These variable changes in BMI scores according to measurement technique within unique samples may have important implications on public health intervention efforts and policy.

The objective of this investigation was to present the differences in BMI obesity cut off percentile scores according to two internationally recommended BMI score calculations (World Health Organization (WHO), International Obesity Task Force (IOTF)) and one national Italian calculation method recommended by the Italian Pediatric Society for Endocrinology and Diabetes (SIEDP).

The participants were 679 children (48% boys, 52% girls) who were 8 to 10 years old (M=9.38; SD=0.89) attending the first and second grades of primary schools in three cities (Asti, Cuneo, Turin) in urban and suburban areas of northern Italy.

Results showed that obesity cut-off percentiles calculated with the WHO method were less restrictive than those calculated with the IOTF recommended methods which in turn were less restrictive than those of the Italian SIEDP method. The present data indicated that recent reported trends in Italian overweight and obesity may not accurately portray the population under study.

There is an important need to monitor the trends in youth overweight and obesity in Italy. Studies show that there is a current need for common BMI measures and calculation techniques.  Important implications for obesity and overweight surveillance and prevention will be discussed.

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