FITNESSGRAM BMI Standards: BMI Standards: Should They Be Race-Specific?

The purpose of the study was to evaluate race-specific FITNESSGRAM® body mass index (BMI) standards in comparison to the recommended standards, i.e., percent fat (%BF) ³25 in boys and %BF ³32 in girls. Methods: BMI and %BF were estimated in 1,968 Black and White children ages 6-14 years, using methods similar to those used to develop the current FITNESSGRAM standards. Multiple regression was employed to develop age-, sex-, and race-specific BMI standards. Percent agreement and modified kappa (kq) were used to evaluate agreement with the %BF standards, and sensitivity and specificity were used to evaluate classification accuracy. Concludes that Race-specific BMI standards appear to be a more accurate representation of unhealthy %BF levels than the current FITNESSGRAM BMI standards.