OBJECTIVE: To verify body proportion performance in pos-menarche adolescents and its influence in anthropometric assessment, emphasizing weight-height ratio. METHODS: Eighty adolescents from a public school in Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil, were evaluated, with at least 12 months pos-menarche. Anthropometric measurements were obtained according to standardized procedures. Body proportion was assessed by Cormic Index. The population was divided in studied group ( Cormic Index > median ) and control group ( Cormic Index < median ). The chronological and gynecological ages, weight, height, sitting-height, leg length, body mass index and overall and localized body fat indicators were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The means of chronological and gynecological ages did not differ statistically between the groups, showing homogeneity relating to the physical development. The Cormic Index mean and standard deviation corresponded to 0.52 and 0.013, respectively. The groups did not differ in height (p = 0.23), but the studied group showed significantly higher sitting-height values than the control group (p<0.01). A significantly higher proportion (67.6%) of the studied group presented body mass index > median, when compared with the control group (37.2%). The overall and localized body fat indicators were not statistically different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The differences in body proportion were not related to height. Higher Cormic Index values seem to be associated with a higher body mass index, but not with body composition and body fat distribution. Therefore, we question the exclusive use of body mass index in anthropometric assessment in health services, considering that it can generate inexact results in a population with compromised body proportion.
adolescent; anthropometry; body composition; nutritional status
