Comparison of BMI, triponderal mass index and paediatric body adiposity index for predicting body fat and screening obesity in preschool children

Several novel anthropometric indices, including paediatric body adiposity index (BAIp) and triponderal mass index (TMI), have emerged as potential tools for estimating body fat in preschool children. However, their comparative validity and accuracy, particularly when compared with established indicators such as BMI, have not been thoroughly investigated. This cross-sectional study enrolled 2869 preschoolers aged 3-6 years in Wuhan, China. The non-parametric Bland-Altman analysis was employed to evaluate the agreement between BMI, BAIp and TMI with percentage of body fat (PBF), determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), serving as the reference measure of adiposity. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was conducted to assess the effectiveness of BMI, BAIp and TMI in screening for obesity. BAIp demonstrated the least bias in estimating PBF, showing discrepancies of 3<middle dot>64 % (95 % CI 3<middle dot>40 %, 4<middle dot>12 %) in boys and 3<middle dot>95 % (95 % CI 3<middle dot>79 %, 4<middle dot>23 %) in girls. Conversely, BMI underestimated PBF by 3<middle dot>89 % (95 % CI 3<middle dot>70 %, 4<middle dot>37 %) in boys and 4<middle dot>81 % (95 % CI 4<middle dot>59 %, 5<middle dot>09 %) in girls, while TMI also underestimated PBF by 5<middle dot>15 % (95 % CI 4<middle dot>90 %, 5<middle dot>52 %) in boys and 5<middle dot>68 % (95 % CI 5<middle dot>30 %, 5<middle dot>91 %) in girls. BAIp exhibited the highest AUC values (AUC = 0<middle dot>867-0<middle dot>996) in boys, whereas in girls, there was no statistically significant difference between BMI (AUC = 0<middle dot>936, 95 % CI 0<middle dot>921, 0<middle dot>948) and BAIp (AUC = 0<middle dot>901, 95 % CI 0<middle dot>883, 0<middle dot>916) in girls (P = 0<middle dot>054). In summary, when considering the identification of obesity, BAIp shows promise as a screening tool for both boys and girls.