Identifying and definitional attributes | |
Metadata item type: | Data Element Concept |
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METEOR identifier: | 269828 |
Registration status: | Health, Superseded 14/07/2005 |
Definition: | The body mass of a person aged 18 years or older. |
Context: | Public health and health care: Weight is an overall measure of body size that does not distinguish between fat and muscle. Weight is an indicator of nutritional and health status. Low pre-pregnancy weight is an indicator of poorer gestational outcome in women (Kramer 1988). Low weight is also associated with osteoporosis. In general, change in weight in adults is of interest because it is an indicator of changing health status, and in children as it indicates changing health status and growth and development. It enables the calculation of body mass index (BMI) which requires the measurement of height and weight for adults. |