A multivariate analysis of fatness and relative fat patterning

Abstract

Skinfold measurements (triceps, subscapular, suprailiac and medial calf) in four samples (376 boys, 352 girls, 338 men and 380 women from rural Colombia) were subjected to principal components analysis to identify components of obesity and relative fat patterning. Three components emerged which were similar in the four samples: a first component of fatness explaining 70–80% of the variance and two fat pattern components each explaining 10–15% of the variance: trunk‐extremity and upper‐lower body. Fatness and the trunk‐extremity pattern components changed with age in children (7–12 years), but none of the components changed with age in adults (25–60 +). The fatter tended to be more patterned in both age groups. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that socioeconomic status was more related to fatness than to patterning. With the exception of brothers, all first degree relatives (sib, parent‐offspring) and spouses were correlated in fatness. Some of the correlations between relatives–usually sibs, but not spouses–were also significant for the pattern components, suggesting a genetic basis for the known stability of this characteristic (Garn, '55a). Principal components analysis is a useful multivariate alternative for quantitative studies of anthropometric patterning.