For Researchers on Obesity: Historical Review of Extra Body Weight Definitions

Table 3

Development of weight standard tables.

Year ref.	Author	Criteria	Population	Screening	Development	Milestone/outcome
1842 [19]	Quetelet	Tables: weight to height by age group: 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60	Belgian men and women	With clothes and shoes (as is)	Developed a table of the average weight by ages for a sample of Belgian men and women	“Average weight” Belgian
1846 [20]	Hutchinson	Tables: weight to height for 30 y.o.; Englishmen from 5′1′′ to 6 feet	5 feet 1 inch to 6 feet, 30 y.o.; 2,650 Englishmen		Average weights of 30 y.o. men for each inch of height from 5′1′′ to 6 feet	“Average weight” English
1867 [17]	Fish	Tables: weight to height for 30 y.o. American men from 5′1′′ to 6 feet	American	Medical Review of English Tables (from John Hutchinson)	The Agent’s Manual of Life Assurance	“Average weight” American
1912 [7]	The Association of Life Insurance Medical Directors and the Actuarial Society of America	Tables: based on rate of mortality: weight by height tables for men and women by age	Mortality for insured population	Seasonal consideration to have the same clothes and shoes	Report of The Joint Committee onThe Medico-Actuarial MortalityInvestigation “Average weight may not have the lowest mortality”—what is ideal weight?	“Ideal weight” based on longevity
1937 [8]	Dublin and Lotha (1882–1969), Metropolitan Life Insurance Company frame [8], 1937	Tables: weight to height by sex and body frame	4 million people insured by MetLife 1911–1935	Height, with street shoes Weight, only indoor clothes	Dublin divided the average weights into three types of body frames: small, medium, and large From the prospective of insurance, the bad weight was considered to be 20–25%, with morbid obesity at 70–100% above the “ideal”	“Ideal weight” (based on lowest mortality for insured population)
1942-3 [9, 10]	Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC)	Tables: weight by height by sex and body frame; Longevity criteria, weight maintained at the same level as 25 y.o. with same height and body frame	Proposed tables for “ideal weight” for men and women >25 y.o. by frame size	Height, with street shoes; Weight, only indoor clothes	National Standards for Weight by sex and body frame MLIC 1942-43; Obesity, 20% above ideal weight	“Ideal weight”
1959; [11, 12]	The Build and Blood Pressure Study	Tables: weight by height by sex and body frame	US and Canada-insured (from 26 life insurance companies) people 1935–1954 20% self-reported	Street shoes and indoor clothes	Revised MLIC 1959 tables; Standard Tables based on association with mortality (not morbidity) distribution of weight to height association with minimum mortality (lowest death rate) Obesity, 20% above ideal weight	“Desirable weight”
1975 [21]	Fogarty Center Conference on Obesity	Range of acceptable weight Suggested range BMI: 20.1–25.0 for men; 18.7–23.8 for women	Based on MLIC 1959	Adjusted street shoes and indoor clothes	Guidance for body weight	Range of acceptable weight
1979 [13, 14]	The Build and Blood Pressure Study, second study	Tables: weight by height by sex and body frame	Insured people; 1950–1972; 10% self-reported	Street shoes and indoor clothes	Revised MLIC 1983 tables	“Height to weight tables”
1980 [18]	US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health, Education and Welfare	Adjusted range of acceptable weight of age and height specific	MLIC 59	Adjusted street shoes and indoor clothes	Dietary Guidance for Americans (1st edition)	Range of acceptable weight from “desirable” weight tables
1985 [22, 23]	National Institute of Health	“Overweight”: BMI ≥ 85th percentile, “severe overweight”: BMI ≥ 95th percentile of 20-year-old to 29-year-old men and women. “Obesity” and “severe obesity” same for the sum of the triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses	NHANES II; 1976–80; Men and women; 20–29 years old	Criteria matched for range of acceptable weight: not ≥20% of desirable weight for midpoint of medium-build person MLIC, 83.	Guidance for body weight; Overweight-obesity BMI: ≥27.8 for men; ≥27.3 for women; Suggested range BMI for males and females: 26.4–28.5 (MLIC 59) 27.2–26.9 (MLIC 83)	Range of acceptable weight
1985 [24]	US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health, Education and Welfare	Overweight translated to BMI for men 25-26 and for women; 24-25	MLIC 59		Dietary Guidance for Americans (2nd edition)	Desirable weight
1990 [25]	US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health, Education and Welfare	BMI ≥ 25 for ages 19–34 and ≥27 for ages ≥35 years		All adults (both sexes combined) by 2 age groups	Dietary Guidance for Americans (3rd edition) translated in BMI ≥25 for ages 19–34 and 27 for ages ≥35 years	Unhealthy weight
1995 [15]; 2000 [26]	World Health Organization (WHO)	Mortality curve	International data	Mortality curves for BMI selection	International Classification of Weight	International Classification of Weight based on BMI level
1995 [27]	US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health, Education and Welfare	BMI ≥ 25 for all ages	All adults (both sexes combined) for all ages	No shoes, no clothes	Dietary Guidance for Americans (4th edition)	Healthy weight
1998; [2]	National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)	Relation of BMI and risk of morbidity and mortality	RCT and epidemiological studies		Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults	Assessment and treatment management of overweight and obesity
2010 [16]	US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health, Education and Welfare	WHO International Classification of Weight based on BMI level was adopted for US population	USA	Matches with WHO and NIH and NHLBI criteria	Dietary Guidance for Americans (7th edition)	BMI classification matches with WHO and NIH and NHLBI, 1998

Criteria for table generation.
Next edition is expected in 2015.
“National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990”—Public Law 101–445, Title III, Section  301, stated that a report entitled “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” shall contain nutritional and dietary information and guidelines for the general public and “shall be promoted by each Federal agency in carrying out any Federal food, nutrition, or health program” [28].