Rajko Milasinovic; Ana Popovic; Jovica Petkovic; Kosta Goranovic & Marko Joksimovic

This article has two aims: (a) first aim was to determine what is the most applicable and the simplest alternative for recommended BMI categories for underweight, overweight and obesity related to IOTF references, from the practical standpoint; (b) second aim was to determine the prevalence of the nutritional status in Montenegro on this representative sample of school children aged 9-13 years and compare them with peers from relevant and similar studies from both the local region and globally. A total sample of 1478 healthy children from Montenegro participated in this study divided into two sub-samples of 732 girls and 746 boys. According to the IOTF body mass index (BMI) reference values were used through ROC curve analysis to evaluate potential alternatives for estimation of the nutritional status of this sample of children. Only WHtR did not show significant age-related differences in the case of both genders. Considering the nutritional status of children from this study it has been found that boys have a considerably higher prevalence of being overweight (22.7 % vs. 16.4 %) and obese (7.5 % vs. 3.3 %) compared to girls. On the other hand, girls were more prevalent to be underweight (10.5 % vs. 7.5 %). WHtR seems like the best alternative for the estimation of obesity and being overweight due to simplicity and the equipment needed.

KEY WORDS: Underweight; Overweight; Obesity; Waist to height ratio; Skinfold.

MILASINOVIC, R.; POPOVIC, A.; PETKOVIC, J.; GORANOVIC, K. & JOKSIMOVIC, M. Anthropometric characteristics, body composition and nutritional status of younger primary school children in Montenegro. National study. Int. J. Morphol., 42(2):324- 331, 2024.