Assessing the accuracy of two proxy measures for BMI in a semi-rural, low-resource setting in Guatemala

BACKGROUND: Validation studies of self-reported BMI are limited to populations in high-income countries or urban settings. Here, we assess the accuracy of two proxy measures of measured height, weight and BMI – self-reported values and the Stunkard figure scale – in a semi-rural population in Guatemala. METHODS: Self-reported values and Stunkard figure selection were elicited prior to biometric measurements from a total of 175 non-pregnant women recruited based on a stratified random sample of households, with 92 women providing full data for validation across measures. RESULTS: 86.3% of participants self-reported weight and 62.3% height. Among those responding, self-reported weight is highly accurate though lower relationships for height contribute to error in reported BMI. The Stunkard scale has a higher response rate (97.1%) and while less accurate in predicting BMI values, more accurately predicts BMI categories. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported measures are more accurate than the Stunkard scale in estimating BMI values, while the latter is more accurate in estimating BMI categories. High non-response rates and lower correlations between reported and measured height caution against using self-reported biometric data other than raw weight in low-resource settings. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-973) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.