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Weight, Height & Related Measures: Our Research
The RFMMB supports the collection of
data on height, weight, and other anthropometric measures in several surveys, and
branch staff are involved with issues related to monitoring these risk
factors:
- We are evaluating the effect of bias in self-reported height and weight.
These measures are routinely collected in many surveys and studies, and
in some cases, study personnel measure these attributes. In others, respondents
report their own height and weight. Our specific interest is the impact of this
bias on estimates of the prevalence of obesity.
- We participated in the steering committee that developed the recently released
Surgeon General's Call to
Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. This initiative is intended to motivate
a variety of organizations and individuals across the country to promote healthy eating habits and
adequate physical activity.
- We collaborated on a detailed analysis of the Year 2000
Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans guideline on weight status, "Aim for a healthy weight."
The concept of healthy weight in the guideline includes aspects of body composition, fat
distribution and weight-related health conditions. The paper describes the evolution of the
guideline and reviews the available measures of weight status and body composition. This
paper was one of a group of papers published as a supplement to the Journal of Nutrition and
entitled "The Dietary Guidelines: Surveillance Issues and Research Needs."
- As members of the Work Group for the Nutrition Focus Area, we helped formulate the weight-related
objectives for Healthy People 2010. Based on
previous work by RFMMB staff, the Work Group added weight objectives for children and adolescents.
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