Tracking of overweight and obesity from early childhood to adolescence in a population-based cohort – the Tromsø Study, Fit Futures

Table 1 Descriptive characteristics of the study sample^a at three ages

Age (years)	Gender	Age (years) Mean (SD)	Height (cm) Mean (SD)	Weight (kg) Mean (SD)	BMI (kg/m²) Mean (SD)	BMI SDS^b Mean (SD)
2–4	Boys	2.6 (0.23)	93.0 (3.91)**	14.1 (1.63)**	16.33 (1.35)	0.01 (1.01)
2–4	Girls	2.6 (0.20)	91.3 (3.50)**	13.5 (1.57)**	16.19 (1.38)	0.08 (1.00)
5–7	Boys	6.0 (0.36)	117.8 (5.09)**	22.0 (3.56)**	15.77 (1.77)	0.14 (0.94)^‡
5–7	Girls	6.0 (0.38)	116.1 (5.03)**	21.6 (4.02)**	15.96 (2.10)	0.32 (1.06)^‡
15–17	Boys	16.0 (0.39)	177.0 (6.64)**	69.5 (14.75)**	22.13 (4.29)	0.49 (1.12)
15–17	Girls	16.1 (0.37)	165.1 (6.35)**	60.6 (11.82)**	22.22 (4.14)	0.40 (1.03)

^aA sub study of The Tromsø Study: Fit Futures N = 532: 279 boys, 253 girls
** Statistically significant gender differences (Mann–Whitney U test p <0.001)
^‡Statistically significant gender difference (Mann–Whitney U test p = 0.03)
^bBMI SDS is calculated using LMS values based on an international reference population of children [28]
BMI body mass index, SDS standard deviation score, SD ± standard deviation, LMS LMS curves/ LMS method: median (M), coefficient of variation (S) and skewness (L)

ISSN: 1471-2431