ABSTRACT
Body fatness is a continuing phenomenon, and except for some clear-cut morbidity situations, it has always been difficult to agree on the cut-off points on a world-wide basis. From this it follows that up to now we have had difficulty in assessing the prevalence of obesity in children, adults and people of advanced age. It has also been difficult to compare the prevalence of obesity in different parts of the world. At a meeting of the Regional Office of the World Health Organisation in Warsaw, 1987 (WHO, 1988), this problem was discussed. In the resulting report, entitled “Measuring obesity,” it was suggested that obesity in adults should be established at a level of a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher (WHO, 1988): a BMI higher than 25 means the initiation of overweight. For children and adolescents the values for classifying obesity have not been fully agreed upon, as BMI varies significantly depending on various stages of growth. Special growth grids were established by Rolland-Cachera et al. (1982), showing that the critical values of BMI for the classification of obesity also differ according to age.
