Objectives: To compare body mass index (BMI) with body circumferences in 4 to 10 year-old Brazilian children. Design: Descriptive correlational type study. Setting: Universidad Estatal de Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Participants: Children 4 to 10 year-old. Interventions: We selected in a probabilistic (stratified) manner a total of 517 children both sexes, 256 boys and 261 girls. We evaluated anthropometric measurements of body weight (kg), height (cm), BMI [BMI = weight (kg)/height (m)2] and relaxed mean arm girth, thigh and calf (cm). For data analysis descriptive statistics were used for arithmetic mean (X), standard deviation (SD) and Pearson’s coefficient correlation product moment (r) as well as to infer step by step the stepwise multiple regression analysis. Main outcome measures: Correlation of body mass index with body circumferences. Results: BMI had high correlation coeffic...