048 Changes in waist circumference and BMI in adolescents in England from 1977/1987 to 2005–2007

ObjectiveTo compare changes in BMI and waist circumference in the past 30 years among English children aged 11–16 years.DesignCross-sectional health examination surveys.SettingThe Health Survey for England (HSE) is a survey of a random sample of the general population living in private households in England.ParticipantsA new, nationally representative sample is selected each year. 1988 children aged 11–16 years had a nurse visit in the three HSE years 2005–2007, of whom 1770 had valid waist circumference measurements. HSE data were compared with age-specific centile charts for waist circumference for British children aged 5.0–16.9 years derived from baseline surveys of 3585 boys in 1977 and 4770 girls in 1987.Main outcome measuresBMI and waist circumference z-scores derived from the baseline data, as BMI and waist circumference vary by age and sex.ResultsThe mean z-scores for waist circumference for children aged 11–16 years in 2005–2007 was substantially higher than the mean z-score for BMI, for both sexes: WC 1.0 (95% CI 0.93 to 1.1), BMI 0.54 (0.44 to 0.63) for boys; WC 1.3 (1.2 to 1.4), BMI 0.48 (0.40 to 0.56) for girls (both p