Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T23:30:32.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Body composition predicted from skinfolds in African women: a cross-validation study using air-displacement plethysmography and a black-specific equation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2007

Aïssatou Dioum
Affiliation:
Equipe de Nutrition, Laboratoire de Physiologie, Département de Biologie Animale, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Sénégal, West Africa
Agnès Gartner*
Affiliation:
Nutrition Unit, UR 106 (WHO Collaborating Centre for Nutrition), IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), BP 64501, 911 Avenue Agropolis, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Bernard Maire
Affiliation:
Nutrition Unit, UR 106 (WHO Collaborating Centre for Nutrition), IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), BP 64501, 911 Avenue Agropolis, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Francis Delpeuch
Affiliation:
Nutrition Unit, UR 106 (WHO Collaborating Centre for Nutrition), IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), BP 64501, 911 Avenue Agropolis, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Salimata Wade
Affiliation:
Equipe de Nutrition, Laboratoire de Physiologie, Département de Biologie Animale, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Sénégal, West Africa
*
*Corresponding author: Dr A. Gartner, fax +33 4 67 41 63 30, email gartner@mpl.ird.fr
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.

Skinfold thickness (SF) measurements are commonly used for the indirect assessment of body composition. It is necessary to know how large the bias is when using Caucasian SF-based prediction equations Africans, as no specific equations exist. Our first aim was to test the validity of the equation of Durnin & Womersley for predicting body density from SF in Africans. The second aim was to determine the effect of calculating percentage body fat (%BF) from body density using a black-specific formula rather than the Siri equation, thus taking into account the higher fat-free mass (FFM) density in blacks than in whites. A total of 196 African women volunteered. Mean age was 29·5 (sd 8·7) years and mean BMI was 22·5 (sd 4·6) kg/m2. We compared body density values predicted from SF with those measured by air-displacement plethysmography, and %BF values obtained from body density using the Siri equation or the black-specific calculation. The bias (reference minus prediction) was 0·0100 kg/cm3 in body density (P<10−4) and 6·5 % BF (P<10−4), and the error (sd of the bias) 0·0097 kg/l and 4·5 % BF. With the black-specific equation, the bias was reduced by 1·9 % BF, while error remained similar. As the %BF prediction required an SF-based equation followed by a body density-based calculation, the lack of validity we observed in Africans may be due to known differences between blacks and whites in the distribution of subcutaneous adipose tissue and, as demonstrated, in the FFM density. Equations thus need to be established using SF values specific to Africans.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2005

References

Biaggi, RR, Vollman, MW, Nies, MA, et al. (1999) Comparison of air-displacement plethysmography with hydrostatic weighing and bioelectrical impedance analysis for the assessment of body composition in healthy adults. Am J Clin Nutr 69, 898903.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bland, JM & Altman, DG (1986) Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1, 307310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bland, JM & Altman, DG (1995) Comparing methods of measurement: why plotting difference against standard method is misleading. Lancet 346, 10851087.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brandon, LJ (1998) Comparison of existing skinfold equations for estimating body fat in African American and white women. Am J Clin Nutr 67, 11551161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cameron, N, Griffiths, PL, Wright, MM, Blencowe, C, Davis, NC, Pettifor, JM & Norris, SA (2004) Regression equations to estimate percentage body fat in African prepubertal children aged 9 y. Am J Clin Nutr 80, 7075.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cronk, CE & Roche, A (1982) Race and sex-specific reference data for triceps and subscapular skinfolds and weight/stature. Am J Clin Nutr 35, 347354.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Demerath, EW, Guo, SS, Chumlea, WC, Towne, B, Roche, AF & Siervogel, RM (2002) Comparison of percent body fat estimates using air displacement plethysmography and hydrodensitometry in adults and children. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 26, 389397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dempster, P & Aitkens, S (1995) A new air displacement method for the determination of human body composition. Med Sci Sports Exerc 27, 16921697.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deurenberg, P (1992) The assessment of body composition: uses and misuses. In Annual Report, pp. 3572. Lausanne: Nestlé Foundation.Google Scholar
Deurenberg, P & Deurenberg-Yap, M (2003) Validity of predicted percentage body fat from skinfolds in Singapore Chinese, Malays and Indians. Int J Body Comp Res 1, 2329.Google Scholar
Deurenberg-Yap, M, Ng, SA, Foo, LL & Deurenberg, P (2003) Development and validation of prediction equation for percentage body fat based on skinfolds for Singaporean adults and adolescents. Int J Body Comp Res 1, 103109.Google Scholar
Deurenberg-Yap, M, Schmidt, G, Van Staveren, WA, Hautvast, JGAJ & Deurenberg, P (2001) Body fat measurement among Singaporean Chinese, Malays and Indians: a comparative study using a four-compartment model and different two-compartment models. Br J Nutr 85, 491498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Durnin, JVGA & 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. Br J Nutr 32, 7797.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fields, DA, Goran, MIMcCrory, M (2002) Body-composition assessment via air-displacement plethysmography in adults and children: a review. Am J Clin Nutr 75, 453467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gartner, A, Dioum, A, Delpeuch, F, Maire, B & Schutz, Y (2004) Use of hand-to-hand impedancemetry to predict body composition of African women as measured by air displacement plethysmography. Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 523531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gartner, A, Dioum, A, Maire, B, Delpeuch, F & Schutz, Y (2003) Comparison of foot-to-foot impedance with air-displacement plethysmography to evaluate body composition in African women. Int J Body Compost Res 1, 137145.Google Scholar
Going, SB (1996) Densitometry. In Human Body Composition, pp. 323 [Roche, AF, Heymsfield, SB and Lohman, TG, editors]. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
Guo, SS, Chumlea, WC & Cockram, DB (1996) Use of statistical methods to estimate body composition. Am J Clin Nutr 64, 428S435S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harrison, GG, Buskirk, ER & Carter, JEL, et al. (1988) Skinfold thicknesses and measurement technique. In Anthropometric Standardization Reference Manual pp. 5580 [Lohman, TG, Roche, AF and Martorell, R editors.] Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
Heyward, V (2001) Methods recommendation: body composition assessment. J Exerc Physiol on line 4, 112.Google Scholar
Kashiwazaki, H, Dejima, Y, Orias, RJ & Coward, WA (1998) Validity of published prediction equations for body composition in high altitude Bolivian Aymara as evaluated by doubly labeled water. Am J Hum Biol 10, 371384.3.0.CO;2-5>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kral, JG, Mariegos, M & McKeon, EW (1993) Body composition studies in severe obesity. In Recent Developments in Body Composition Analysis: Methods and Applications, pp. 137146 [Kral, JG & Van Italie, TB, editors] London, UK: Smith Gordon.Google Scholar
Lohman, TG, Roche, AF & Martorell, R [editors]. Anthropometric Standardisation Reference Manual. Champaign IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
Lukaski, HC (1987) Methods for the assessment of human body composition: traditional and new. Am J Clin Nutr 46, 537556.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCrory, MAGomez, TD, Bernauer, EM & Mole, PA (1995) Evaluation of a new air displacement plethysmography for measuring human body composition. Med Sci Sports Exerc 27, 16861691.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malina, RM (1996) Regional body composition: age, sex, and ethnic variation. In Human Body Composition, pp. 217253 [Roche, AF, Heyms-fields, SB and Lohman, TG, editors]. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
Norgan, NG (1994) Relative sitting height and the interpretation of the body mass index. Ann Hum Biol 21, 7982.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norgan, NG (1995) The assessment of the body composition of populations. In Body Composition Techniques in Health and Disease, pp. 195221 [Davies, PSW and Cole, TJ, editors]. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nunez, C, Kovera, AJ & Pietrobelli, A, et al. (1999) Body composition in children and adults by air displacement plethysmography. Eur J Clin Nutr 53, 382387.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oosthuizen, GM, Joubert, G, Mollentze, WF & Rosslee, E (1997) Body fat estimation in black South Africans: a pilot study. Cent Afr J Med 43, 126131.Google ScholarPubMed
Ortiz, O, Russell, M & Daley, TL, et al. (1992) Differences in skeletal muscle and bone mineral mass between black and white females and their relevance to estimates of body composition. Am J Clin Nutr 55, 813.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roche, AF, Heymsfield, SB & Lohman, TG [editors]. Human Body Composition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
Siri, WE (1961) Body composition from fluid spaces and density: analysis of methods. In Techniques for Measuring Body Composition, pp. 223244 [Brozek, J and Henschel, A, editors]. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Wagner, DR & Heyward, VH (2000) Measures of body composition in blacks and whites: a comparative review. Am J Clin Nutr 71, 13921402.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wagner, DR & Heyward, V (2001) Validity of two-component models for estimating body fat of black men. J Appl Physiol 90, 649656.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, J & Deurenberg, P (1996) The validity of predicted body composition in Chinese adults from anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance in comparison with densitometry. Br J Nutr 76, 175182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Werkman, A, Deurenberg-Yap, M, Schmidt, G & Deurenberg, P (2000) A comparison between the composition and density of the fat-free mass of young adult Singaporean Chinese and Dutch Caucasians. Ann Nutr Metab 44, 235242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wong, WW, Stuff, NF, Butte, NF, Smith, EOB & Ellis, KJ (2000) Estimating body fat in African American and white adolescent girls: a comparison of skinfold-thickness equations with a 4-compartment criterion model. Am J Clin Nutr 72, 348354.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zillikens, MC & Conway, JM (1990) Anthropometry in blacks: applicability of generalized skinfold equations and differences in fat patterning between blacks and whites. Am J Clin Nutr 52, 4551.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed