Predicting overweight and obesity in adulthood from body mass index values in childhood and adolescence.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) introduced the clinical use of the body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) in growth charts for young males and females.

Objective: This study updates our previous report with the use of new CDC BMI charts and definitions of adult overweight and obesity to predict adult overweight or obesity.

Design: Logistic models were fitted to relate adult overweight and obesity to childhood and adolescent BMI values at each age for 166 males and 181 females in the Fels Longitudinal Study and were applied to predict adult overweight and obesity at the 75th, 85th, and 95th percentiles on the CDC charts of childhood and adolescent BMI.