Clinical Study

Measures of Obesity Associated with Asthma Diagnosis in Ethnic Minority Children

Table 3

Body fat measures by ethnicity in boys and girls aged 6-to-8 years.

Body fat measurementRace/ethnicity ( ) Mean (SD) value

Body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2)Mexican (143)18.0 (3.3).001*
Dominican (41)19.4 (5.0)
Puerto Rican (100)19.0 (3.2)
Other/Mixed Hispanic (68)18.5 (3.2)
Non-Hispanic Black (133)17.2 (3.5)
Total (485)18.2 (3.7)

Percentile for BMI for ageMexican (143) 70.1 (28.0) <.001*
Dominican (41)72.1 (33.7)
Puerto Rican (100) 74.2 (27.7)
Other/Mixed Hispanic (68) 74.9 (26.5)
Non-Hispanic Black (133) 58.3 (32.1)
Total (485) 68.6 (30.0)

Waist circumference (cm)Mexican (143)63.4 (8.6) <.001*
Dominican (41) 65.2 (10.2)
Puerto Rican (100) 65.2 (10.7)
Other/Mixed Hispanic (68) 64.4 (8.5)
Non-Hispanic Black (133)59.7 (9.1)
Total (485)63.0 (9.5)

Waist circumference/heightMexican (143) 0.52 (0.06) <.001*
Dominican (41) 0.51 (0.07)
Puerto Rican (100) 0.52 (0.07)
Other/Mixed Hispanic (68) 0.51 (0.06)
Non-Hispanic Black (133) 0.47 (0.06)
Total (485) 0.50 (0.06)

Percent body fatMexican (143)21.6 (8.9) <.001*
Dominican (41) 23.3 (11.5)
Puerto Rican (100)22.2 (10.8)
Other/Mixed Hispanic (68)21.9 (9.3)
Non-Hispanic Black (133) 15.9 (13)
Total (485) 20.3 (11.2)

*Differences between groups by ANOVA test in unadjusted models.