Median skinfold thickness distributions and fat-wave patterns in Mexican-American children from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES 1982–1984)

Reference data for arm muscle and arm adipose tissue areas in Mexican Americans from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination survey (HHANES 1982–1984): Comparisons with whites and blacks from NHANES II (1976–1980)

“…The tendency observed in the present study €or Mexican American children to have larger arm adipose tissue areas and smaller arm muscle areas than non-Hispanic white children and non-Hispanic black children is in agreement with previous studies (Zavaleta and Malina, 1980;Martorell et al, 1987;Kaplowitz et al, 1989;Ryan et al, 1990). Moreover, as shown by Roche et al (1990), percentile values for weightlstature' in Mexican American children in HHANES were larger than those for white children in NE-IANES I1 at almost all ages in each gender. Therefore, the data presented here suggest that htexican American children may differ from other U.S. populations of children in having proportionately more body fat and less muscle mass.…”

“…This pattern, described as a fat wave, was similar to that documented for the triceps, suprailiac, and me-dial calf skinfold thicknesses in Mexican American boys in HHANES, and for the triceps skinfold thicknesses in white boys and black boys in NHANES I1 (Ryan et al, 1990). The developmental changes in AATA are characterized by a sizeable prepubescent gain, a midpubescent loss, and then a late pubescent increase.…”

“…The extent to which population differences for AMA and AATA vary according to socio-economic status was not considered in the present study, but analyses of HHhVES data have indicated that across levels ofpoverty status (i.e., at or below the poverty index vs. above the poverty index), Mexican American children had significantly larger mean triceps and subscapular skin fold thicknesses than white or black children, particularly in older age categories (7-12 and 13-18 years) (Ryan et al, 1990). However, cultural factors that are largely independent of socioeconomic status, such as dietary choices, family eating habits, life experiences, and patterns of exercise, often differ between populations.…”

Comparisons for Body Mass Index and Body Fat Percent Among Puerto Ricans, Blacks, Whites and Asians Living in the New York City Area

“…:.a 10- (2,14,15,34,38,44). Socioeconomic status is inversely related to stature in Hispanics (7,23,33 The data presented in this report were obtained from self-selected healthy adults from four different ethnic groups living in New York City who participated in a cross-section, age stratified study for several markers of body composition by measurements of underwater weighing, body potassium, exchangeable sodium, dual photon absorptiometry, anthropometries, a serum chemistry screen, and a physical examination.…”

“…Significant differences between whites and Mexican Americans in body fatness and anthropometric variables have been well recognized (2,(14)(15)(16)23,33,34,38), Mexican Americans being more obese and having a more centralized adiposity (2), and thus an unfavorable distribution of adipose tissue with regard to proclivity for diabetes mellitus and hypertension, compared with non-Hispanic whites. Socioeconomic status is a significant factor in body composition in early and middle childhood (5), but genetic factors may play the principal role in determining the distribution of adipose tissue (2,14,15,34,38,44). Socioeconomic status is inversely related to stature in Hispanics (7,23,33).…”