Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:30:21.527Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Paul Deurenberg ,
Jan A. Weststrate  and
Jaap C. Seidell
Paul Deurenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Human Nutrition, Agricultural University Wageningen, Bomenweg 2, 6703 HD, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Jan A. Weststrate
Affiliation:
Department of Human Nutrition, Agricultural University Wageningen, Bomenweg 2, 6703 HD, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Jaap C. Seidell
Affiliation:
Department of Human Nutrition, Agricultural University Wageningen, Bomenweg 2, 6703 HD, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

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% = 1.51xBMI–0.70xage–3.6xsex+1.4 (R2 0.38, SE of estimate (see) 4.4% BF%). In adults the prediction formula was: BF% = 1.20xBMI+0.23xage−10.8xsex–5.4 (R2 0.79, see = 4.1% 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.

Keywords

Body compositionBody mass indexObesity
Type
Body Composition
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , March 1991 , pp. 105 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1991

References

REFERENCES

Baumgartner, R. N., Chumlea, W. C. & Roche, A. F. (1989). Estimation of body composition from bioelectrical impedance of body segments. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 221–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caton, J. R., Molé, P. A., Adams, W. C. & Heustis, D. S. (1988). Body composition analysis by bioelectrical impedance: effect of skin temperature. Medical Sciences in Sports and Exercise 20, 489–491.Google ScholarPubMed
Conway, J. M., Norris, K. H. & Bodwell, C. E. (1984). A new approach for the estimation of body composition by infrared interactance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 40, 1123–1130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deurenberg, P., Leenen, R., van der Kooy, K. & Hautvast, J. G. A. J. (1989c). In obese subjects the body fat percentage calculated with Siri's formula is an overestimation. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 43, 569–575.Google ScholarPubMed
Deurenberg, P., Pieters, J. J. L. & Hautvast, J. G. A. J. (1990). The assessment of the body fat percentage by skinfold thickness measurements in childhood and young adolescence. British Journal of Nutrition 63, 293–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deurenberg, P., van der Kooy, K., Hulshof, T. & Evers, P. (1989a). Body mass index as a measure of body fatness in the elderly. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 43, 231–236.Google ScholarPubMed
Deurenberg, P., Weststrate, J. A., Paymans, I. & van der Kooy, K. (1988). Factors affecting bioelectrical impedance measurements in humans. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 42, 1017–1022.Google ScholarPubMed
Durnin, J. V. G. A. & Womersley, J. (1974). Body fat assessed from total body density and its estimation from skinfold thickness, measurements on 481 men and women aged from 16 to 72 years. British Journal of Nutrition 32, 77–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elia, M., Parkinson, S. A. & Diaz, E. (1990). Assessment of body composition: near infra-red interactance. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 49, 197A.Google Scholar
Forbes, G. B. (1987). Human Body Composition. New York: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuller, N. J. & Elia, M. (1989). Potential use of bioelectrical impedance of the whole body and of body segments for the assessment of body composition, comparison with densitometry and anthropometry. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 43, 779–792.Google ScholarPubMed
Garrow, J. S. & Webster, J. (1985). Quetelet's index (W/H2) as a measure of fatness. International Journal of Obesity 9, 147–153.Google ScholarPubMed
Gray, D. S., Bray, G. A., Gemayel, N. & Kaplan, K. (1989). Effect of obesity on bioelectrical impedance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 255–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guo, S., Roche, A. F. & Houtkoper, L. B. (1989). Fat free mass in children and young adults predicted from bioelectrical impedance and anthropometric variables. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 435–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houtkoper, L. B., Lohman, T. G., Going, S. B. & Hall, M. C. (1989). Validity of bioelectrical impedance for body composition assessment in children. Journal of Applied Physiology 66, 814–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, A. S. & Pollock, M. L. (1978). Generalized equations for predicting body density of men. British Journal of Nutrition 40, 497–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jackson, A. S., Pollock, M. L., Graves, J. & Mahar, M. (1988). Reliability and validity of bioelectrical impedance in determining body composition. Journal of Applied Physiology 64, 529–534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keys, A., Fidanza, F., Karvonen, M. J., Kimura, N. & Taylor, H. L. (1972). Indices of relative weight and obesity. Journal of Chronic Diseases 25, 329–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khosla, T. & Lowe, C. R. (1967). Indices of obesity derived from body weight and height. British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine 21, 122–128.Google ScholarPubMed
Kleinbaum, D. G. & Kupper, L. L. (1978). Applied Regression Analysis and Other Multivariable Methods. North Scituate, Massachusetts: Duxbury Press.Google Scholar
Lukaski, H. C. (1987). Methods for the assessment of body composition, traditional and new. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, 437–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lukaski, H. C., Bolonchuck, W. W., Hall, C. B. & Siders, W. A. (1986). Validation of tetrapolar bioelectrical impedance method to assess human body composition. Journal of Applied Physiology 60, 1327–1332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lukaski, H. C., Johnson, P. E., Bolonchuck, W. W. & Lykken, G. E. (1985). Assessment of fat free mass using bio-electrical impedance measurements of the human body. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 41, 810–817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norgan, N. G. & Ferro-Luzzi, A. (1982). Weight-height indices as estimates of fatness in men. Human Nutrition: Clinical Nutrition 36C, 363–372.Google Scholar
Pollock, M. L., Laughridge, E. E., Coleman, B., Linnerud, A. C. & Jackson, A. (1975). Prediction of body density in young and middle aged women. Journal of Applied Physiology 38, 745–749.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quetclet, L. A. (1869). Physique Sociale, vol. 2, p. 92. Brussels: C. Muquardt.Google Scholar
Rolland-Cachera, M. F., Sempe, F., Guillod-Bataille, M. M., Patois, E., Pequignot-Guggenbuhl, F. & Fautrat, W. (1982). Adiposity indices in children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 36, 178–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Segal, K. R., van Loan, M., Fitzgerald, P. I., Hodgdon, J. A. & van Itallie, T. B. (1988). Lean body mass estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis, a four site cross validation study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 47, 7–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siri, W. E. (1961). Body composition from fluid spaces and density, analysis of methods. In Techniques for Measuring Body Composition, pp. 223–244 [Brozek, J. and Henschel, A., editors]. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Slaughter, M. H., Lohman, T. G., Boileau, R. A., Horswill, C. A., Stillman, R. J., van Loan, M. D. & Bemben, D. A. (1988). Skinfold equations for estimation of body fatness in children and youth. Human Biology 60, 709–723.Google ScholarPubMed
Sonsbeek, J. L. A. (1985). The Dutch by Height and Weight. (In Dutch.) Maandberichten Ge-zondheidsstatistiek (CBS) 6, 5–18.Google Scholar
Weststrate, J. A. & Deurenberg, P. (1989). Body composition in children, proposal for a method for calculating body fat percentage from total body density or skinfold-thickness measurements. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 1104–1115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Womersley, J. & Durnin, J. V. G. A. (1977). A comparison of the skinfold method with extent of overweight and various weight-height-relationships in the assessment of obesity. British Journal of Nutrition 38, 271–284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed