Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to navigation Skip directly to page options Skip directly to site content

What is Body Mass Index - Test Your Knowledge

  1. BMI-for-age is a diagnostic tool used to identify children and teens who are underweight, overweight, or obese.

    True
    False

    ANSWER: False – That’s correct. BMI-for-age is a SCREENING tool used to identify children and teens who are underweight, overweight, or obese. It is not a diagnostic tool.

     

  2. BMI is age- and sex-specific for children and teens aged 2 to 20 years. Thus, sex-specific BMI-for-age is the measure used to classify children and teens as underweight, overweight, or obese:

    True
    False

    ANSWER: True – That is correct. BMI changes substantially for children as age increases, so the measure used to screen for obesity, overweight, and underweight is BMI-for-age. BMI-for-age is sex-specific for children and teens. This is unlike BMI for adults, which is neither age- nor sex-specific and for which cutoff points of a BMI of 25 and 30 have been established to identify overweight and obesity, respectively.

     

  3. John is 22 months old. BMI-for-age can be used to determine if he is underweight, overweight, or obese.

    True
    False

    ANSWER: False – That’s correct. BMI-for-age is used to screen children and teens aged 2 (24 months) to 20 years for underweight, overweight, or obesity.

Related Links

Top