PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Sohar, Ezra AU - Scapa, Eithan AU - Ravid, Mordechai TI - Constancy of relative body weight in children AID - 10.1136/adc.48.5.389 DP - 1973 May 01 TA - Archives of Disease in Childhood PG - 389--392 VI - 48 IP - 5 4099 - http://adc.bmj.com/content/48/5/389.short 4100 - http://adc.bmj.com/content/48/5/389.full SO - Arch Dis Child1973 May 01; 48 AB - The height and weight records of 404 schoolchildren at age 6 to 7 and at age 13 to 14 were analysed. Relative weight (i.e.% of ideal weight for height) of a child tended to change little over this period of 7 to 8 years of rapid growth. The correlation coefficient of relative weight for the group at the two ages was 0ยท81. In only 6% of the children did relative weight change more than 20% in either direction. This stability of relative body weight, despite the variations in environmental factors during school years, emphasizes the dominant role of genetic factors in the monitoring of body weight.