Comparison of body fatness measurements by BMI and skinfolds vs dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and their relation to cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To compare estimates of adiposity by dual emission X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), skinfolds and body mass index (BMI); and to evaluate the relation of these measures to cardiovascular risk in adolescents. DESIGN: In a cohort of adolescents participating in a longitudinal study of insulin resistance, Slaughter formulas were used to estimate adiposity from skinfolds and DXA was used to estimate adiposity as % body fat (%BF) and fat mass (FBM). BMI, blood pressure, lipids and insulin resistance were measured. SUBJECTS: Male and female, 11-17 y old (n ¼ 130). MEASUREMENTS: To compare DXA with two office-based methods of assessing fatness and cardiovascular risk. RESULTS: Slaughter estimates were highly correlated with DXA (%BF r ¼ 0.92, P ¼ 0.0001; FBM r ¼ 0.96, P ¼ 0.0001). Correlations were similar in heavy and thin children. BMI was also highly correlated with DXA (%BF r ¼ 0.85, P ¼ 0.0001; FBM r ¼ 0.95, P ¼ 0.0001), and these relations were stronger in heavy than thin children. BMI and the Slaughter formulas were similar to DXA in their relations to cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Adiposity by BMI and Slaughter formulas are highly correlated with DXA and similarly related to cardiovascular risk factors. BMI is easy to obtain and is an acceptable method for initial office estimation of body fatness. BMI and skinfolds compare well with DXA in predicting adverse cardiovascular risk profile.

Developing waist-to-height ratio cut-offs to define overweight and obesity in children and adolescents

“…However, in large population health studies involving children (which are limited in Australia), skinfold measures prove to be a relatively simple, cost-effective and feasible option to obtain %BF. A study conducted by Steinberger et al (2005) has shown that %BF calculated from triceps and subscapular skinfolds, using the equations of Slaughter et al (1988), to be strongly correlated with %BF was determined by DEXA (r 5 0?93 for male subjects and 0?92 for female subjects, P , 0?0001), thus increasing the validity of using skinfold measures at the population level (24,45) . Nevertheless, the standard deviation of the difference between %BF from DEXA and %BF from skinfolds in this study was 50·00 55·00 60·00 65·00 70·00 75·00 80·00 85·00 90·00 95·00 100·00 105·00110·00 12·00 14·00 16·00 18·00 20·00 22·00 24·00 26·00 28·00 30·00 32·00 approximately 5 % in both sexes, indicating that caution should be applied at the individual level.…”

Salivary adiponectin concentration in healthy adult males in relation to anthropometric measures and fat distribution

“…WC and BMI were not signifi cantly diff erent in predicting the SC-WBF. Many studies have investigated the association of the anthropometric measures with body fat percentage and its distribution (Goulding et al 1998;Steinberger et al 2005;Suchanek et al 2012;Ejtahed et al 2014). Suchanek et al (2012) have reported Ejtahed et al (2014).…”

Validity of body mass index and waist circumference to detect excess fat mass in children aged 7–14 years

“…Rodriguez et al (2005) recommend the use of the Slaughter equation for adolescent girls and boys in field and clinical studies. Despite these problems, body fatness estimated from measurements of skinfold thickness is reasonably good value for the use in large field studies (Teixeira et al, 2001;Steinberger et al, 2005;Moreno et al, 2006).…”

“…However, they are population-specific and may not apply to all individuals. A study by Steinberger et al (2005) showed high correlations of % BF estimates according the Slaughter formula in comparison to % BF estimated with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in 11-to 17-year-old adolescent girls and boys. Rodriguez et al (2005) recommend the use of the Slaughter equation for adolescent girls and boys in field and clinical studies.…”