BMI fails to identify poor nutritional status in stunted children with CF.

BACKGROUND

Body mass index (BMI) is currently emphasized for evaluating nutritional status in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Weight for age (WFA) and height for age (HFA) may get less attention.

METHODS

Data from the Epidemiologic Study of Cystic Fibrosis were used to compare patient WFA, HFA, and BMI percentiles for children age 2 to 18years.

RESULTS

For children with BMI between the 25th and 50th percentiles, 16.8% had WFA <10th percentile and 26.6% had HFA <10th percentile.

CONCLUSIONS

BMI fails to identify a substantial proportion of children with CF who have stunting or potentially poor nutritional status as measured by WFA and/or HFA.