Puberty and the definition of overweight and obesity

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents is obviously high in the United States. However, the best way to define overweight and obesity in young individuals has been a topic of debate. Historically, the approach has been to use percentile values for body mass index by age and sex produced by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. However, some have argued that this approach is not optimum for a range of reasons. One concern has been the impact of puberty on growth in height and weight, suggesting that age and sex alone are not adequate as control variables.
Source: The Journal of Pediatrics - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: The Editors' Perspectives Source Type: research