The validity of predicted body composition in Chinese adults from anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance in comparison with densitometry
- 1 August 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in British Journal of Nutrition
- Vol. 76 (2), 175-182
- https://doi.org/10.1079/bjn19960023
Abstract
Body composition was measured by densitometry in a group of eighty-one healthy Chinese males and 124 healthy Chinese females, aged 18–67 years. Biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds were measured as well as total body bioelectrical impedance at 50 kHz. Mean heights were 1·71 (SD 0·05) and 1·61 (SD 0·06) m, body weights 66·1 (SD 9·1) and 57·2 (SD 9·4) kg and BMI 22·7 (SD 3·0) and 22·0 (SD 3·3) kg/m2 in males and females respectively. Body fat values from body density were 20·1 (SD 6·2) and 29·7 (SD 7·5)% in males and females respectively. Mean predicted body-fat values from skinfolds, bioelectrical impedance and BMI, using prediction formulas developed in Western populations, did not differ or differed only slightly from body-fat values estimated from body density. The SD of the difference for each method was 5% body fat or 3·3 kg fat-free mass (CV 6%), which is approximately equal to the accuracy level of each predictive method. Compared with densitometry the predictive methods overestimated body fat at the lower levels of body fatness, whereas at the higher levels of body fat the predictive methods tended to underestimate body fatness. It is concluded that prediction formulas for estimating body fat from skinfolds, impedance or BMI developed in Western populations are applicable and valid in the adult Chinese population. However, in very lean subjects the predictive methods overestimate body fat compared with values obtained from body densityKeywords
This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit:
- Comparison of body composition assessments by bioelectrical impedance and by anthropometry in premenopausal Chinese womenBritish Journal of Nutrition, 1993
- Body fat in lean and overweight women estimated by six methodsBritish Journal of Nutrition, 1991
- Body mass index as a measure of body fatness: age- and sex-specific prediction formulasBritish Journal of Nutrition, 1991
- Body composition in Chinese subjects: Comparison with data from North AmericaWorld Journal of Surgery, 1991
- Lean body mass estimation by bioelectrical impedance analysis: a four-site cross-validation studyThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1988
- STATISTICAL METHODS FOR ASSESSING AGREEMENT BETWEEN TWO METHODS OF CLINICAL MEASUREMENTThe Lancet, 1986
- A comparison of the skinfold method with extent of ‘overweight’ and various weight-height relationships in the assessment of obesityBritish Journal of Nutrition, 1977
- Body fat assessed from total body density and its estimation from skinfold thickness: measurements on 481 men and women aged from 16 to 72 YearsBritish Journal of Nutrition, 1974
- Sequential changes in weight, density, and percentage ash weight of human skeletons from an early fetal period through old ageThe Anatomical Record, 1974
- The weight of the dry fat‐free skeleton of American Whites and NegroesAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1959