Japanese Journal of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine

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A comparative study was conducted between two independent methods to estimate body fat in a total population of 27 Japanese females (aged 20-40) . The two methods dealt with different body component parameters. Body fat was estimated (1) in terms of skinfolds according to the formula of Nagamine and Suzuki ('64), who used triceps and subscapular skinfolds, and (2) in terms of total body water based on the analysis of the dilution of orally ingested deuterium oxide (D₂O) in urine. The estimate of the percent body fat by each of the two methods showed significant difference. The skinfold estimate of percent body fat was significantly lower than the D₂O estimate. The best combination of four variables for predicting total body water was found to be humerus breadth, femur breadth, abdomen skinfold and body weight. The prediction equation based on humerus breadth, femur breadth, abdomen skinfold and body weight proved to be accurate for estimating total body water (R =.903 ; SEE=1.276) than the combination of skinfolds (r=.706) . Multiple regression equation was applied to the estimation of the total body water from these anthropometric measurements. Thus, the equation based on humerus breadth, femur breadth, abdomen skinfold and body weight could be instead of skinfolds to accurately estimate the criterion percent body fat.

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