Body mass index as a measure of body fatness: age- and sex-specific prediction formulas

Abstract

In 1229 subjects, 521 males and 708 females, with a wide range in body mass index (BMI; 13.9-40.9 kg/m2), and an age range of 7-83 years, body composition was determined by densitometry and anthropometry. The relationship between densitometrically-determined body fat percentage (BF%) and BMI, taking age and sex (males = 1, females = 0) into account, was analysed. For children aged 15 years and younger, the relationship differed from that in adults, due to the height-related increase in BMI in children. In children the BF% could be predicted by the formula BF% = 1.51 x BMI-0.70 x age -3.6 x sex + 1.4 (R2 038, SE of estimate (SEE) 4.4% BF%). In adults the prediction formula was: BF% = 1.20 x BMI+0.23 x age-10.8 xsex-54 (R2 079, SEE = 41% BF%). Internal and external cross-validation of the prediction formulas showed that they gave valid estimates of body fat in males and females at all ages. In obese subjects however, the prediction formulas slightly overestimated the BF%. The prediction error is comparable to the prediction error obtained with other methods of estimating BF%, such as skinfold thickness measurements or bioelectrical impedance.

Concentration-dependent TCDD elimination kinetics in humans: toxicokinetic modeling for moderately to highly exposed adults from Seveso, Italy, and Vienna, Austria, and impact on dose estimates for the NIOSH cohort

“…Percent body fat was estimated from body mass index values using an age-and sex-specific formula derived by Deurenberg and coworkers. The formula was recently validated in a multicenter European study of more than 400 individuals (Deurenberg et al, 1991(Deurenberg et al, , 2001) and was thus considered to be appropriate for use in analyzing data from the Seveso, Italy, patients.…”

“…Specifically, the incremental changes in body concentration, C b , were calculated as follows: Percent body fat estimated from formula by Deurenberg et al (1991). c All but six patients had a 16-year follow-up.…”

“…Table 3 summarizes the sampling database overall, and by exposure duration categories corresponding to those used in an early mortality study on the NIOSH cohort and a previous assessment of exposure levels (Fingerhut et al, 1991;Aylward et al, 1996;respectively). No person-specific data were available regarding body weight, body-fat level, changes in these parameters over time, or any other physiological parameters, so modeling was conducted by assuming a constant body weight of 70 kg and either (a) constant 20% body-fat level, or (b) assuming that percent body fat increased with age, according to Deurenberg et al (1991).…”

Validity of reported energy expenditure and reported intake of energy, protein, sodium and potassium in rheumatoid arthritis patients in a dietary intervention study

“…This was performed during the last weeks of the study period. After collecting three background urine samples, the subjects ingested an oral dose of 0.12 g 2 H 2 O and 0.25 g H 2 18 O per kilo estimated body water (Schoeller, 1988;Deurenberg et al, 1991). After ingestion of the DLW, the dose bottle was rinsed with 50 ml tap water, which was also consumed.…”

Seeing overweight adults as babies: Physical cues and implications for stigmatization

“…We then find that adult men are, and adult women are not, very different from a 6‐ to 9‐month‐old baby in terms of fat percentage. For example, entering the mean BMI‐value of 20 for three African hunter‐gatherer groups – the Hadza, Efe, and !Kung (reported by Leonard, 2012) – into the formula proposed by Deurenberg, Weststrate, and Seidell (1991), and selecting an age of 25 years, we find about 25% fat for females, and 14% for males.…”