Developing differential height, weight and body mass index references for girls that reflect the impact of the menarche

Aim Growth is both a matter of amplitude and tempo. We aimed to develop references for body height, body weight and body mass index (BMI) with respect to tempo of maturity. Methods Data obtained from the German KiGGS study (2003–2006) on body height, body weight and presence or absence of the menarche were re-analysed in 3776 girls, aged 10–17 years. We developed smoothed centiles for BMI-, body-height- and body-weight-for-age using the LMS method for premenarcheal and postmenarcheal girls. Results Body height, body weight and BMI differed significantly between premenarcheal and postmenarcheal girls. On average, postmenarcheal girls aged 11–17 years were 5.3 cm taller and 9.7 kg heavier, and their BMI was 2.9 kg/m² higher than in premenarcheal girls of the same calendar age. Conclusion Adolescent BMI rises with calendar age and biological age. New reference charts for adolescent girls aged 10–18 years were generated to be inserted into the currently used references to avoid misclassifying underweight and overweight pubertal girls.