The Corpulence Index (CI) (also Ponderal Index (PI) or Rohrer's Index) is a measure of corpulence, or of leanness in other variants, of a person[1] calculated as a relationship between mass and height.[2] It was first proposed in 1921 as the "Corpulence measure" by Swiss physician Fritz Rohrer[3][4] and hence is also known as Rohrer's Index.[5] It is similar to the body mass index, but the mass is normalized with the third power of body height rather than the second power.[6] In 2015, Sultan Babar showed that CI does not need to be adjusted for height after adolescence.[4][6]
with in kilograms and in metres, giving a measure with the same dimensions as density. The corpulence index yields valid results even for very short and very tall persons,[7] which is a problem with BMI — for example, an ideal body weight for a person 152.4 cm tall (48 kg) will render BMI of 20.7 and CI of 13.6, while for a person 200 cm tall (99 kg), the BMI will be 24.8, very close to the "overweight" threshold of 25, while CI will be 12.4.[8]
Because of this property, it is most commonly used in pediatrics.[9][10] (For a baby, one can take crown-heel length for the height.[11]) The normal values for infants are about twice as high as for adults, which is the result of their relatively short legs.[citation needed] It does not need to be adjusted for age after adolescence.[6] It has also been shown to have a lower false positive rate in athletes.[12]
The corpulence index is variously defined (the first definition should be preferred due to the use of SI-units kg and m) as follows:
| Formula | Units | Values considered normal or typical | |
|---|---|---|---|
| for a 12-month-old infant | beyond infancy | ||
| [9][10] | kg/m3 | 24[9] | 12[6] |
| [1][13] | inch * pound -1/3 | While this formula appears in some
literature, it is not a meaningful corpulence index and should not be used. | |
Significance
edit- It plays a role in assessing whether the intrauterine growth restriction of a child is symmetrical or asymmetrical.[14]
- CI has been shown to have higher sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values than body mass index for determining adiposity.[6]
- It is used to calculate ectomorphy in the Heath–Carter formula.[15][16]
Categories
edit| Category | PI (kg/m3[a]) |
|---|---|
| Underweight | 8-11 |
| Normal range | 11-15 |
| Overweight | 15-17 |
| Obese | >17 |
For infants, units of grams and centimeters are used instead, then the value is multiplied by 100.[17]
| Category | PI (child) |
|---|---|
| Very low | ≤1.12 |
| Low | 1.13-1.19 |
| Middle | 1.20-1.25 |
| Upper middle | 1.26-1.32 |
| High | 1.33-1.39 |
| Very high | ≥1.40 |
| Healthy range | 1.2-1.6 |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Original source writes kg/m2 but this is an error.
References
edit- ^ a b Foods and Nutrition Encyclopedia, Audrey H. Ensminger, Marion Eugene Ensminger. p. 1645
- ^ EXSS 323: LAB 1 - BIOMECHANICS TOOLS: Computers, Algebra and Trig Oregon State University
- ^ F. Rohrer (1921). "Der Index der Körperfülle als Maß des Ernährungszustandes". Münchner Med. WSCHR. 68: 580–582.
- ^ a b Moortel, Koen Van de. "Multidirectional regression analysis".
- ^ "What is the Ponderal Index? (With pictures)". 3 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Babar, Sultan (March 2015). "Evaluating the Performance of 4 Indices in Determining Adiposity". Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 25 (2). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins): 183. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
- ^ Lawrence F. Ditmier: New Developments in Obesity Research. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York 2006, ISBN 1-60021-296-4[page needed]
- ^ v Roth, Jonathan (2018). "Taller people should have Higher BMI's and Blood Pressure Measurements as their Normal" (PDF). Biomed J Sci & Tech Res. 6 (4). doi:10.26717/BJSTR.2018.06.001381.
- ^ a b c Davies, D. P. (1980). "Size at birth and growth in the first year of life of babies who are overweight and underweight at birth". Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 39 (1): 25–33. doi:10.1079/PNS19800005. PMID 6988835.
- ^ a b ACC/SCN NUTRITION POLICY PAPER No. 19 - Glossary Archived 2007-08-20 at the Wayback Machine by Lindsay H. Allen and Stuart R. Gillespie
- ^ Fayyaz, Jabeen (June 2005). "Ponderal Index". Journal of Pakistan Medical Association. 55 (6): 228–9. PMID 16045088.
- ^ Babar, Sultan (March 2016). "The Use of Adiposity Indices for Wide Receivers From 2015 NFL Combine". Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 26 (2). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) 2: e23. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
- ^ "Ponderal Index (Corpulence Index) Calculator".
- ^ Khoury, MJ; Berg, CJ; Calle, EE (September 1990). "The ponderal index in term newborn siblings". American Journal of Epidemiology. 132 (3): 576–83. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115694. PMID 2389761.
- ^ Norton, Kevin; Olds, Tim (1996). Anthropometrica: A Textbook of Body Measurement for Sports and Health Courses. Australian Sports Commission; UNSW Press. ISBN 978-0868402239.
- ^ Rempel, R (1994). A Modified Somatotype Assessment Methodology. Simon Fraser University. ISBN 978-0-612-06785-1.
- ^ a b c Mohajan, Devajit; Mohajan, Haradhan Kumar (2023-06-06). "Ponderal Index: An Important Anthropometric Indicator for Physical Growth". Journal of Innovations in Medical Research. 2 (6): 15–19. doi:10.56397/JIMR/2023.06.03. ISSN 2788-7022.
- ^ Bannik, Sudip Datta (January 2011). "Evaluation of Health Status of Pre-Menarcheal and Post-Menarcheal Girls by Rohrer Index in Purulia, West Bengal". Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology. 3 (1): 13–16. ISSN 2141-2316 – via Academic Journals.
External links
edit- Online Ponderal Index Calculator, which uses the first definition.
- Ponderal Index Calculator, which uses metric values. (English site)
- Ponderal Index Calculator, which uses metric values. (German site)
- Android App for Corpulence Index
- Apple app for Corpulence Index