Resumen

BENJUMEA R, María Victoria; JORGE BACALLAO, G  y  DUSSAN L, Carmen. Concordancia del índice peso para la talla con el índice de masa corporal. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2002, vol.28, n.2, pp.76-99. ISSN 0864-3466.

For the anthropometric evaluation of the nutritional status of adults, the weight for height index adjusted for frame size has been traditionally used in Colombia. Nevertheless, for estimating the expected weight for a given height, a number of alternatives have been so far used without any proven criterion to choose the best among them or to substantiate the equivalence of these alternatives in relation to the evaluation based on the body mass index that is the method of choice in the international literature. To measure the agreement between several criteria for the anthropometric assessment of the nutritional status based on the weight for height index in comparison with the body mass index. Forty-one women aged 18-35 years from low socioeconomic stratum and participants in a prenatal control program in urban healthcare centers were evaluated. Classification of the nutritional status, pre-gestational weight, height and the carpal circumference were employed. The agreement was estimated by the Kappa de Cohen´s statistical method among various evaluating methods In relation to that which is based on the body mass index. A good agreement was obtained when the expected weight according to the Society of Actuaries (1959) was used; the agreement was moderated with the minimum and average weights of the Metropolitan Life Insurance (1983); and poor when using the limit maximum weights of the Metropolitan Life Insurance (1983) and with 50th percentile for the height of Frisancho AR (1990). Divergences between BMI and the classifications based on different variables of expected weight for height add a new argument in favor of the use of BMI in the anthropometric classification of nutritional status in clinics and in public health.

Palabras clave : NUTRITIONAL STATUS; BODY MASS INDEX; WEIGHT FOR HEIGHT; BONE DEVELOPMENT; COLOMBIA.