This study analyzed the concordance of the World Health Organization criteria (WHO, 2007) with Kuczmarski et al. (2002), Cole et al. (2000, 2007) and Conde and Monteiro (2006) criteria used for nutritional status classification in children. This is a cross-sectional study, with 619 students (331 girls) from 6 and 7 years old, from the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Body mass and stature were measured to calculate the body mass index. The Kappa index (k) was used to analyze the concordance between the criteria, considering p<0.05. The concordances of the WHO (2007) criteria with the other three criteria were all significant (p <0.001): very good (k = 0.82) with Kuczmarski et al. (2002) and Cole et al. (2000, 2007); good (k = 0.68) with Conde and Monteiro (2006). In conclusion, the World Health Organization criteria should be use with caution, as well as the others, to assess the nutritional status of Brazilian children due to ethnic and methodological differences.
Nutritional status; Children; Diagnosis; Malnutrition; Overweight
