ABSTRACT
The two main anthropometric indicators of physical growth in children and adolescents are body height and weight. Routine assessment of height and weight in youngsters and comparison with normative data provide key information about physical maturation and nutritional status, including level of overweight. Similarly, such information provides a means of simple comparison between children of the same chronological age. One of the defining features of childhood obesity is early physical maturation (see Chapter 3). Earlier maturation of obese individuals is reflected in height and weight differences compared to normal weight youngsters. The ratio of height and weight, the body mass index (BMI), provides another means of categorizing level of overweight and physical status.
