A recent study suggests doctors should discard the tried-and-true body mass index measurement in favor of the lesser-known neck circumference method. According to a study published in the journal Pediatrics in July, measuring a child’s neck circumference is a much more reliable indicator of whether she is obese or overweight than tracking BMI. It suggests that measuring a child’s neck circumference rules out several factors (such as a muscular build or uneven fat distribution) that might make her BMI inaccurate.
However, some physicians, including Dr. Riva L. Rahl, staff physician at the Cooper Clinic and medical director of the Cooper Wellness Program, say BMI isn’t going anywhere for a while. “Until there is validity behind the neck circumference as a marker for obesity—correlated with metabolic markers, risk for diabetes, heart disease and waist circumference … people will still use BMI,” she says. “It’s possible neck circumference is more convenient, but with BMI we have a lot of data to compare against other children.” The most recent pediatric growth charts include BMI. Get the chart at www.cdc.gov/growthcharts.
