Indices of obesity derived from height and weight in two Polynesian populations.

Khosla and Lowe (1967) have drawn attention to the usefulness of a reliable index of obesity derived from height and weight. From their analysis of data on 5,000 British men aged 15 to 64 years, they decided that the best index was weight divided by the square of height, thus confirming the conclusions of B0e, Humerfelt, and Wedervang (1957) and of Billewicz, Kemsley and Thomson (1962). Their criteria for this choice was that the index should be highly correlated with weight but independent of height since, in the general population, obesity is unassociated with height. The other two indices examined, weight divided by height, and weight divided by the cube of height, were both significantly correlated with height, the first positively and the second negatively. A third criterion for an index of obesity to be used in epidemiological studies is its appropriateness for different populations and races. In this paper we examine the applicability of the various indices to two South Pacific Polynesian populations.