Introduction
Body mass index (BMI) is a common screening tool for weight-related problems (Pasco et al., 2014). Its purpose is to assess the body fatness and provide data for further analysis. It is calculated as person’s weight divided by the square of his or her height. It gathers information about the correlation of height and weight of a person (Dains, Baumann, & Scheibel, 2016). Various researchers dedicated their effort to defining the validity of the tool for screening weight issues in different populations. The most prevalent problem for which this tool is used is adiposity or excessive weight. This is probably due to the fact that obesity is the one of the world’s most topical issues. Little research was conducted to test the validity of BMI in relation to underweight children. One of the studies conducted by Mei et al. (2002) showed that in comparison with weight-for-height and Rohrer index, BMI performed either equally or better than those in a sample of underweight and overweight children aged 2-19. The difficulty arises when reliability needs to be assessed. In children, weight is highly volatile and is dependent on a variety of factors including sex and age. The most commonly used technique to establish reliability is to reference certain child’s BMI against the sample of similar-aged and same-sex children.
The peculiarities of using the index for children also include the interpretation procedure. Despite the fact that the same calculation procedure is applied, the interpretation is based on a specific guideline. According to the chart devised by Center for Disease Control and Prevention, healthy BMI spreads in a range from 5th to 85th percentile (CDCP, 2015). Predictive value for the girls was previously assessed in Mexican American girls in California. The value was 76.9%. Sensitivity ranged from 25% to 75% (Mei et al., 2002). Ethical issues of measuring BMI do not seem to arise.
Health Issues and Risks for 12-year-old Underweight Girls
In underweight girls approximately 12 years of age with underweight parents, there is a risk of unhealthy family eating traditions. However, the assessment through personal conversation is needed to identify such a fact. Additionally, underweight girls at such age have an increased chance of developing anorexia or mental issues connected with self-perception (Danis et al., 2016). Parents may not be aware of these risks due to their own similar constitution. Therefore, there is a necessity to gather additional information about the each family member’s eating habits, education on healthy dieting in school or at home, and signs of psychological weight-related trauma induced by self, family or peers. The questions that are to assess these factors that may influence the population’s health need to be carefully designed in order not to offend any related person. Possible risks here could be the personal sensitivity to discussing eating habits. If parents are vegetarian or vegan, the discussion of food and diet plans should be better redirected to professionals. Otherwise, the questions to assess the above-mentioned topics may be composed as follows: “How many times a day do you normally take food? What does your usual diet consist of? Does your child exhibit any signs of eating problems?” such design seems to be a non-intrusive and polite way to inquire about food consumption.
Among the strategies to foster the parents’ proactivity about a child’s health and weight one could name giving brochures or referring to a diet specialist. The first way is a polite way to give them a hint about the problem but does not guarantee the effect. The second sends the matter to the professional’s hands and seems like the best solution.
References
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP). (2015). About child & teen BMI. Web.
Dains, J. E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. (2016). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
Mei, Z., Grummer-Strawn, L. M., Pietrobelli, A., Goulding, A., Goran, M. I., & Dietz, W. H. (2002). Validity of body mass index compared with other body-composition screening indexes for the assessment of body fatness in children and adolescents. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 75(6), 978–985.
Pasco, J. A., Holloway, K. L., Dobbins, A. G., Kotowicz, M. A., Williams, L. J., & Brennan, S. L. (2014). Body mass index and measures of body fat for defining obesity and underweight: A cross-sectional, population-based study. BMC Obesity, 1, 9.