Constancy of relative body weight in children.

Sohar, E., Scapa, E., and Ravid, M. (1973). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 48, 389. Constancy of relative body weight in children. The height and weight records of 404 schoolchildren at age 6 to 7 and at age 13 to 14 were analysed. Relative weight (i.e. % of ideal weight for height) of a child tended to change little over this period of 7 to 8 years of rapid growth. The correlation coefficient of relative weight for the group at the two ages was 0-81. In only 6% of the children did relative weight change more than 20% in either direction. This stability of relative body weight, despite the variations in environmental factors during school years, emphasizes the dominant role of genetic factors in the monitoring of body weight.