Differences in the relationship of weight to height, and thus the meaning of BMI, according to age, sex, and birth year cohort
Background: Weight can be adjusted for height using the Benn parameter (kg/mB), where B is the power that minimises the correlation with height. Aim: To investigate how the Benn parameter changes across age (10–65 years) and time (1956–2015) and differs between sexes. Subjects and methods: The sampl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2020-02-01
|
| Series: | Annals of Human Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2020.1737731 |
| _version_ | 1797685567134105600 |
|---|---|
| author | William Johnson Tom Norris David Bann Noël Cameron Jonathan K. Wells Tim J. Cole Rebecca Hardy |
| author_facet | William Johnson Tom Norris David Bann Noël Cameron Jonathan K. Wells Tim J. Cole Rebecca Hardy |
| author_sort | William Johnson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Weight can be adjusted for height using the Benn parameter (kg/mB), where B is the power that minimises the correlation with height. Aim: To investigate how the Benn parameter changes across age (10–65 years) and time (1956–2015) and differs between sexes. Subjects and methods: The sample comprised 49,717 individuals born in 1946, 1958, 1970 or 2001. Cross-sectional estimates of the Benn parameter were produced and cohort differences at ages 10/11 and 42/43 years were examined using linear regression. Multilevel modelling was used to develop trajectories showing how the Benn parameter changed over age from childhood to mid-adulthood in the three older cohorts. Results: The Benn parameter was closest to 2 in childhood but consistently lower across adulthood, particularly in females and the most recent cohort. At ages 10/11 years, the Benn parameter was greater than 3 in both sexes in the 2001 cohort but between 2.2 and 2.7 in the three older cohorts. This difference was estimated to be +0.67 (0.53, 0.81) in males and +0.53 (0.38, 0.68) in females, compared to the 1946 cohort, and was driven by a much higher weight SD in the 2001 cohort. Conversely, at ages 42/43 years, the Benn parameter was lowest in the 1970 cohort due to a slightly lower weight-height correlation. This difference was estimated to be −0.12 (−0.34, 0.10) in males and −0.15 (−0.42, 0.13) in females, compared to the 1946 cohort. Conclusions: Changes over time in the obesogenic environment appear to have firstly reduced the Benn parameter due to a lowering of the weight-height correlation but secondly and more drastically increased the Benn parameter due to increasing weight variation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:46:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5ceb2e760b9d45dc9cb84d08190f9620 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0301-4460 1464-5033 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:46:01Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Human Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-5ceb2e760b9d45dc9cb84d08190f96202023-09-14T15:36:12ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAnnals of Human Biology0301-44601464-50332020-02-0147219920710.1080/03014460.2020.17377311737731Differences in the relationship of weight to height, and thus the meaning of BMI, according to age, sex, and birth year cohortWilliam Johnson0Tom Norris1David Bann2Noël Cameron3Jonathan K. Wells4Tim J. Cole5Rebecca Hardy6Loughborough UniversityLoughborough UniversityUCL Institute of EducationLoughborough UniversityUCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child HealthUCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child HealthCLOSER, UCL Institute of Education, University College LondonBackground: Weight can be adjusted for height using the Benn parameter (kg/mB), where B is the power that minimises the correlation with height. Aim: To investigate how the Benn parameter changes across age (10–65 years) and time (1956–2015) and differs between sexes. Subjects and methods: The sample comprised 49,717 individuals born in 1946, 1958, 1970 or 2001. Cross-sectional estimates of the Benn parameter were produced and cohort differences at ages 10/11 and 42/43 years were examined using linear regression. Multilevel modelling was used to develop trajectories showing how the Benn parameter changed over age from childhood to mid-adulthood in the three older cohorts. Results: The Benn parameter was closest to 2 in childhood but consistently lower across adulthood, particularly in females and the most recent cohort. At ages 10/11 years, the Benn parameter was greater than 3 in both sexes in the 2001 cohort but between 2.2 and 2.7 in the three older cohorts. This difference was estimated to be +0.67 (0.53, 0.81) in males and +0.53 (0.38, 0.68) in females, compared to the 1946 cohort, and was driven by a much higher weight SD in the 2001 cohort. Conversely, at ages 42/43 years, the Benn parameter was lowest in the 1970 cohort due to a slightly lower weight-height correlation. This difference was estimated to be −0.12 (−0.34, 0.10) in males and −0.15 (−0.42, 0.13) in females, compared to the 1946 cohort. Conclusions: Changes over time in the obesogenic environment appear to have firstly reduced the Benn parameter due to a lowering of the weight-height correlation but secondly and more drastically increased the Benn parameter due to increasing weight variation.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2020.1737731benn parameterbody mass indexbirth year cohortsecular trendtrajectory |
| spellingShingle | William Johnson Tom Norris David Bann Noël Cameron Jonathan K. Wells Tim J. Cole Rebecca Hardy Differences in the relationship of weight to height, and thus the meaning of BMI, according to age, sex, and birth year cohort Annals of Human Biology benn parameter body mass index birth year cohort secular trend trajectory |
| title | Differences in the relationship of weight to height, and thus the meaning of BMI, according to age, sex, and birth year cohort |
| title_full | Differences in the relationship of weight to height, and thus the meaning of BMI, according to age, sex, and birth year cohort |
| title_fullStr | Differences in the relationship of weight to height, and thus the meaning of BMI, according to age, sex, and birth year cohort |
| title_full_unstemmed | Differences in the relationship of weight to height, and thus the meaning of BMI, according to age, sex, and birth year cohort |
| title_short | Differences in the relationship of weight to height, and thus the meaning of BMI, according to age, sex, and birth year cohort |
| title_sort | differences in the relationship of weight to height and thus the meaning of bmi according to age sex and birth year cohort |
| topic | benn parameter body mass index birth year cohort secular trend trajectory |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2020.1737731 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT williamjohnson differencesintherelationshipofweighttoheightandthusthemeaningofbmiaccordingtoagesexandbirthyearcohort AT tomnorris differencesintherelationshipofweighttoheightandthusthemeaningofbmiaccordingtoagesexandbirthyearcohort AT davidbann differencesintherelationshipofweighttoheightandthusthemeaningofbmiaccordingtoagesexandbirthyearcohort AT noelcameron differencesintherelationshipofweighttoheightandthusthemeaningofbmiaccordingtoagesexandbirthyearcohort AT jonathankwells differencesintherelationshipofweighttoheightandthusthemeaningofbmiaccordingtoagesexandbirthyearcohort AT timjcole differencesintherelationshipofweighttoheightandthusthemeaningofbmiaccordingtoagesexandbirthyearcohort AT rebeccahardy differencesintherelationshipofweighttoheightandthusthemeaningofbmiaccordingtoagesexandbirthyearcohort |