Role of infant feeding practice,sex, and age on fatness and subcutaneous fat distribution in infancy: Longitudinal analysis of multiple skinfold measurements

The aim of this study was to determine whether subcutaneous fatness and fat distribution differ on the basis of feeding practice and sex during the first 6 months of life. Longitudinal principal components analysis (PCA) was done on skinfolds measured at five sites in 45 breast-fed and 41 formula-fed infants. The first component represented fatness, the second component change in fatness, and the third component upper body/lower body fat distribution. Analysis of the components indicated that fatness and the proportion of lower body fat were greater in breast-fed than in formula-fed infants; however, when race was included as a predictor, the differences in lower body fat did not persist. The interpretation of components and the group differences were confirmed by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the sum of skinfolds (fatness) or simple skinfold ratios (fat distribution). Group differences for fatness and upper body/lower body fat persisted when race was included as a predictor. Longitudinal PCA of another indicator, the Rohrer index, suggested that fatness was greater in formula-fed than breast-fed infants. Collectively, these findings suggest that formula-fed infants have less subcutaneous fat than breast-fed infants; however, formula-fed infants may have either more internal fat or more lean body mass. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 9:179–190, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Fatness and fat pattering in 12–17-year-old youth from the Chandigarh zone of Northwest India

Fatness and fat patterning were studied in a sample of 502 youth, 12–17 years of age, of high and low socioeconomic status (SES) from the Chandigarh Zone of northwest India. Fatness estimates were based on six skinfolds, while fat patterning was analyzed through the centripetal fat and waist/hip ratios, and through principal components of skinfolds. In all analyses, fat patterns were adjusted for general body fatness. Upper SES subjects were larger and fatter than lower SES subjects of the same age and sex. As expected, females displayed higher fatness levels than males, a more peripheral distribution of body fat, and lower body patterning of trunk fat. Lower SES was associated with a centripetal, rather than a peripheral, fat pattern. After correction for amount of fat, there were no differences between SES groups in the waist/hip ratio, within-sex. Compared to U.S. youth of a similar age range, Indian subjects displayed higher BMI-adjusted centripetal fat and waist/hip ratios. Lower SES was associated with reduced body fatness along with a centralized pattern of fat deposition, which could reflect a greater mobilization of peripheral fat to meet the metabolic demands of growth. While there was some suggestion of an ethnic effect in the two ratios, this could not be demonstrated with confidence.     

Growth studies in Jena,Germany: Changes in body size and subcutaneous fat distribution between 1975 and 1995

This report presents results of an anthropological investigation on Jena, Germany, schoolchildren from 1995. Stature and weight, body mass index (BMI), and four skinfolds (biceps, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac) are presented for children 7–14 years of age and are compared with results of investigations on schoolchildren carried out in Jena in 1975 and 1985. Between those years, in both sexes there were no significant differences in stature, weight, and consequently in the BMI. In this timespan, a trend toward a reduction of subcutaneous fat was noted. A different development was observed in the period 1985–1995. Stature as well as body weight increased, and because the increase in weight was greater than expected from the increase in stature, there also was an increase in the BMI. A large increase in overall subcutaneous fatness was also found. In 1995, the highest amount of body fat was observed in Jena children since 1975. Changes in the distribution of subcutaneous fat tissue occurred. Between 1975 and 1985, the ratio of trunk to extremity skinfolds (T/E ratio) decreased significantly in boys and girls in all ages, but increased between 1985 and 1995. In spite of this increase, children had the largest T/E ratio in 1975. Changes in the nutritional situation and other factors in living conditions, possibly related to the unification of Germany in 1989 influencing somatic development, are considered. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:579–587, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Maximal oxygen consumption of Colombian women of differing socioeconomic status

Maximal oxygen consumption ($ {\rm \dot V}_{{\rm O}_2 } $ max) was measured directly by a treadmill protocol in 23 upper (UEC) and 23 lower (LEC) socioeconomic women, 19–37 years of age, living in Cali, Colombia. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in $ {\rm \dot V}_{{\rm O}_2 } $ max (liters/min). LEC women were shorter and weighed less than UEC subjects, although there was no evidence of undernutrition in the former at the time of testing. The aerobic power of the LEC group was 33.7 ± 4.1 ml/kg · min (mean ± SD) compared to 32.0 ± 2.8 ml/kg · min in UEC women (P = 0.09). From data on 36 of the women, a multiple stepwise regression was used to derive an empirical equation for estimating $ {\rm \dot V}_{{\rm O}_2 } $ max from submaximal $ {\rm \dot V}_{{\rm O}_2 } $ and heart rate plus anthropometric variables. The derived equation was verified by application to an independent group of 10 subjects. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Fat distribution in Cuban infants

Fatness and relative fat distribution of 505 infants from the city of Havana were identified by principal components analysis of four skinfolds. The first principal component accounts for 59–62% of the variance and represents overall fatness; the other components contrast trunk-extremity and upper-lower body fat. Principal component scores were also correlated with different anthropometric variables. Estimated fat areas and an energy/protein index are the best indicators of fatness, but indices of fat distribution and skinfold ratios are more representative of fat patterning. Nutritional status is related to fatness, but not to fat distribution. Age and race of the infants are independent of fatness and fat distribution. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

High prevalence of excess fat and central fat patterning among Mongolian pastoral nomads

This paper presents information on body size, body composition, and fat patterning in a sample of 750 pastoral nomads aged 5 to 84 years, native residents of Moost district, Mongolia and evaluates the results from the perspective of morphological adaptation to a cold climate. Mongolian nomad men and children have average BMIs close to the U.S. 25th percentile while women have average BMIs close to the U.S. reference median. The prevalence of excess fatness assessed by the Arm Fat Index rises from 5 to 15% during childhood to 65% or more in each adult age–sex group except women 70+ years. The pattern of fat deposition is markedly central (abdominal) among women and children while it is normally so among men: women and children have a very high ratio of waist-to-hip circumference and children have a moderately high ratio of subscapular-to-triceps skinfold compared with other populations. A body composition favoring centrally deposited fat may be adaptive to a cold stressed population because it would aid in heat production (abdominal fat is thermogenic) and heat conservation (more spherical body size and better insulation) in the age–sex groups that are usually at a thermal disadvantage because of small body size and/or low basal metabolic rate relative to men. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Fat patterning of adolescents

Fat patterning of 110 adolescent males and 80 adolescent females was determined by principal components analysis of five skinfolds (triceps, subscaplular, iliac, abdominal and thigh). Densiometrically determined body fatness was employed to create two groups: obese (greater than 30% fat) and non-obese (less than 30% fat). Three fat patterning components emerged: trunk-extremity, upper-lower trunk and medial-lateral abdomen. The first two components accounted for 80% of the variance in fat distribution. The obese males and females demonstrate increased trunk fat patterning compared to the non-obese. Furthermore, obese males deposit increased trunk fat in the lower trunk while obese females deposit fat in the upper trunk.     

Age, sex and socioeconomic correlates of fat patterning among adults from the Chandigarh zone of northwest India

Fat patterns were derived from principal-component analysis of skinfolds and circumferences of 651 northwest Indian adults 18-49 years of age of high and low socioeconomic class. All measurements were corrected for absolute size prior to the analysis. As described in other ethnic groups, two patterns emerged: trunk/extremity and upper/lower body, based upon skinfolds and circumferences respectively. There was a general trend towards increases with age in upper body trunk fatness, somewhat more pronounced in upper than lower SES subsamples. Sexual dimorphism was greater in upper SES individuals due to an intensification of those patterns associated with each sex. Not only do lower SES females have less body fat than their upper SES counterparts, they have relatively less on their lower bodies (hips and thighs), which, in females, may serve as sites of energy storage.     

Familial resemblance in fatness and fat distribution

The purpose of the study was to estimate the degree of familial resemblance in anthropometric indicators of fatness and fat distribution. The sample consisted of 327 Caucasian participants from 102 nuclear families. Indicators of fatness included the body mass index (BMI), the sum of six skinfolds (SF6: triceps + biceps + medial calf + subscapular + suprailiac + abdominal), and waist circumference (WAIST), while indicators of fat distribution included WAIST adjusted for BMI (WAIST_ADJ), the trunk-to-extremity skinfold ratio, adjusted for SF6 (TER_ADJ), and the first principal component of skinfolds, adjusted for the mean skinfold of the individual (PC1). A general familial correlation model was fit to the data, and a series of nested reduced models were also fit so as to test hypotheses about familial resemblance. The hypothesis of no familial resemblance (all familial correlations are zero) was rejected for all phenotypes, indicating that fatness and fat distribution aggregate within families. For the three indicators of fatness (BMI, SF6, and WAIST), the sibling and parent–offspring correlations were significant. Further, there were no sex or generation differences in the familial correlations. For the three indicators of fat distribution (TER_ADJ, WAIST_ADJ, and PC1), there was no parent–offspring resemblance; sibling resemblance was significant for TER_ADJ and PC1. Further, spouse resemblance was not significant for WAIST_ADJ, but was for TER_ADJ and PC1. For both WAIST_ADJ and PC1 there were significant sex differences in the familial correlations. A combination of models including no sex or generation differences and no spouse resemblance was the most parsimonious model for BMI, SF6, and TER_ADJ. The environmental model (all correlations equal) was the most parsimonious for WAIST, the model of no sibling resemblance was the most parsimonious for WAIST_ADJ, and the model of no spousal resemblance was the most parsimonious for PC1. Estimates of maximal heritability range from 46–60% for fatness and from 29–48% for fat distribution, independent of overall fatness, suggesting that in this sample the heritability of fatness is greater than that for fat distribution. Further, the pattern of correlations, which generally includes no spousal resemblance but significant parent–offspring and sibling correlations, suggests the role of genes in explaining at least part of the heritability. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 12:395–404, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

V̇ max and nutritional status in Urban Colombian girls and women

Maximal oxygen consumption (V? max, liters min^?1) was measured in 60 nutritionally normal and 74 marginally undernourished girls 6–16 years of age and 27 upper socioeconomic (UEC) women and 22 women living in economically deprived conditions (LEC) in Cali, Colombia. All girls were recruited from the LEC neighborhoods. Lower values for V? max (liters min^?1) in undernourished girls were replaced by a nutritionally normal status in adulthood in which V? max was not significantly different from that measured in UEC women. Physical condition varied from average to fair in the younger to older subjects compared to women from industrialized countries. When V? max is expressed as ml min^?1 kg^?1 of lean body mass (LBM), all age and group effects disappear, confirming regression analysis which demonstrated a close relationship (r² = 0.81) between V? max (liters min^?1) and LBM in which there were no significant differences between nutritional or socioeconomic groups. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Estimation of body fat and body fat distribution in 11-year-old children using magnetic resonance imaging and hydrostatic weighing,skinfolds, and anthropometry

From early pubescence, both degree and distribution of fatness have been related to health risk factors. Measures that are capable of providing estimates of overall fatness and the extent of high risk fat patterning are, therefore, advantageous. The objective of this study was to compare estimates of body fatness and fat distribution using magnetic resonance imaging with the traditional methods of hydrostatic weighing, skinfolds, and anthropometry in 11-year-old boys and girls. Subjects were 25 boys and 25 girls, representative of their age cohort's body mass index (BMI) range. Total fat using MRI was obtained by summing subcutaneous and internal fat areas from four transaxial scans at the chest, waist, hips, and thigh. Mean MRI total fat (MRI FAT) was 357 (±152) cm² with a range of 172–739 cm² for boys and 427 (±174) cm² with a range of 209–995 for girls. Correlation analyses revealed strong relationships between MRI FAT and UWW FAT (r = 0.73 boys, r = 0.77 girls), and the sum of four skinfolds (r = 0.94 boys, r = 0.88 girls). Analysis of the MRI data alone revealed that MRI FAT variation is largely explained by subcutaneous fat deposition at the waist in boys and at the level of the buttocks in girls, with most skinfolds correlating highly with MRI FAT in both sexes. Results of stepwise multiple regression showed that an abdominal skinfold and thigh circumference explained 95% of MRI FAT in boys, and 86% of the variance in girls. These data show that magnetic resonance images can provide useful information for the identification of discriminating field measures of fatness and its distribution in 11-year-old children. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The effects of fatness and fat distribution on respiratory functions

Background: Inverse relationships between respiratory function and indices of obesity and fat distribution have been reported, but it remains unclear which measure of obesity shows the strongest relationship with lung function.

Aim: The study assessed the effect of fatness and fat distribution on respiratory function.

Subjects and methods: A sample of 423 males and 509 females aged 40–50 years were examined in the Silesian Centre for Preventive Medicine, DOLMED, in Wroc?aw in 1995. The strength of influence of height, body mass index (BMI), wait-to-hip ratio (WHR) and abdominal and subscapular skinfolds upon forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in a 1-s expiration (FEV₁) was assessed by multiple regression analysis.

Results: In males, FVC was strongly positively associated with height and BMI, but negatively associated with subscapular and abdominal skinfolds, WHR, and smoking. FEV₁ showed a positive relationship with height, BMI and WHR. In females, both FVC and FEV₁ showed significant positive associations with height, negative ones with subscapular skinfold, and no association with either WHR or abdominal skinfold. In males, respiratory function is affected to a similar extent by fat in the abdominal region and by fatness of the chest. In females, fatness of the thorax has the strongest relationship with respiratory function.

Conclusion: Fatness tends to impair respiratory function in both sexes but these effects show a different pattern in males and females. In males, respiratory functions are significantly, and to a similar extant, affected by fatness in the abdominal region, both subcutaneous and visceral, and by fatness on the chest. In females, it is primarily subcutaneous fat on the upper thorax that affects respiratory functions, while visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fatness play little or no role.     

The effects of fatness and fat distribution on respiratory functions

BACKGROUND: Inverse relationships between respiratory function and indices of obesity and fat distribution have been reported, but it remains unclear which measure of obesity shows the strongest relationship with lung function. AIM: The study assessed the effect of fatness and fat distribution on respiratory function. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A sample of 423 males and 509 females aged 40-50 years were examined in the Silesian Centre for Preventive Medicine, DOLMED, in Wroc?aw in 1995. The strength of influence of height, body mass index (BMI), wait-to-hip ratio (WHR) and abdominal and subscapular skinfolds upon forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in a 1-s expiration (FEV1) was assessed by multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: In males, FVC was strongly positively associated with height and BMI, but negatively associated with subscapular and abdominal skinfolds, WHR, and smoking. FEV1 showed a positive relationship with height, BMI and WHR. In females, both FVC and FEV1 showed significant positive associations with height, negative ones with subscapular skinfold, and no association with either WHR or abdominal skinfold. In males, respiratory function is affected to a similar extent by fat in the abdominal region and by fatness of the chest. In females, fatness of the thorax has the strongest relationship with respiratory function. CONCLUSION: Fatness tends to impair respiratory function in both sexes but these effects show a different pattern in males and females. In males, respiratory functions are significantly, and to a similar extant, affected by fatness in the abdominal region, both subcutaneous and visceral, and by fatness on the chest. In females, it is primarily subcutaneous fat on the upper thorax that affects respiratory functions, while visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fatness play little or no role.     

Parity,adiposity, and body fat distribution among Hispanic women

The relationship between parity and body fat distribution was investigated in a sample of 1,590 Mexican American, 411 Cuban American, and 657 Puerto Rican women, aged 20–74 years. Participants were interviewed and examined as part of the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of Hispanic populations residing in the United States. In each ethnic group, there was an increase with greater parity in overall body fat (body mass index [BMI], or triceps plus subscapular skinfolds), central vs. peripheral skinfold thicknesses (subscapular/triceps ratio), and upper vs. lower body skinfold thicknesses (subscapular/calf ratio). These positive associations remained after adjusting for age, income, marital status, smoking, menopausal status, and education. They were statistically significant only in the Mexican American group. After controlling for the BMI, the association between parity and the subscapular/ calf ratio remained significant in Mexican Americans, suggesting a relationship between parity and upper body fat distribution independent of body size. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Precision of measuring body fat distribution in adolescent African American girls from the ‘healthy growth study’

Precision estimates are given for anthropometric assessment of body fat distribution in participants (n = 86) of the Healthy Growth Study (total n = 154). This five year longitudinal study explored the psychosocial and biologic influences on activity levels in urban adolescent African American girls. The basic anthropometric data include height, weight, four body and limb circumferences, and five skinfold measurements. It is proposed that ratio indices of body fat distribution are likely to have poorer precisions than the single variables which they comprise, and that ratios based on skinfolds may be particularly sensitive to this problem. The precision of the body mass index (BMI) and principal components of skinfold fatness and fat distribution are also considered. Precisions were greater than 0.95 (intraclass correlation from a random-effects analysis of variance) for most anthropometric dimensions and indices, including the BMI and the first principal component of fatness. However, three of the five skinfolds had lower precisions (0.84–0.93). In contrast, the precisions of all indices of body fat distribution were 0.90 or less (range: 0.57–0.87 skinfold ratios; 0.83–0.90 circumference ratios). Of the ratios, conicity was most stable at 0.90 for repeated measures by both the same and different observers. A second principal component of central fat did not have precisions noticeably better than skinfold ratios (0.79–0.82). Indices of fat distribution may have lower reliabilities than the single variables that they comprise, because errors may be compounded when dividing one variable by another or in linear combinations of measurements other than the first principal component. This problem should be taken into account in clinical and epidemiologic investigations of body fat distribution. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Effect of husbands' education on fatness of wives

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between social position of females achieved by marriage and level of fatness and relative fat distribution. The data of 588 healthy, occupationally active, married women, age 21–62 years, with 12 years of education (completed secondary school) were used. The body mass index (BMI, kg/m² ), triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses, and summed skinfold thicknesses were used as indicators of fatness. The waist–hip ratio, the waist–thigh ratio, and waist, hip, and thigh circumferences were used as indicators of fat distribution. According to the educational level of husbands, women were grouped as 1) moving up the social scale (spouse with complete university education), 2) stable (equal level of education), and 3) moving down the social scale (spouse who never passed beyond the level of basic vocational school, i.e., skilled and unskilled manual workers). The two opposite groups were analyzed, i.e., moving up and moving down. Women with secondary schooling who married up were consistently leaner than women who married down. A similar pattern was observed for fat distribution. Women marrying down had more abdominal body fat compared to women marrying up. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 15:1–7, 2003. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Body frame dimensions are related to obesity and fatness: Lean trunk size,skinfolds, and body mass index

We explore relationships between BMI and skinfolds and anthropometric variables reflecting variation in lean body frame. Data on the middle class adult Australian women (n = 1260) collected in 2002 during a National Body Size and Shape Survey were used. Standard measurements of stature, weight, skeletal dimensions (shoulder width, hip width, chest width, and depth, limb lengths), circumferences of head, trunk, limbs and triceps, subscapular and abdominal skinfolds were taken. Techniques for measurements of skeletal frame minimized the inclusion of adipose tissue thickness. Analysis of variance and parametric and nonparametric correlations were used. Vertical dimensions show weak correlations with fatness, while body frame circumferences and transverse dimensions are consistently, significantly, and substantially correlated with fatness, each explaining from 3 to 44% of variation in skinfold thickness. Skeletal dimensions explain up to 50% of variation in skinfold thickness (multiple regression). Especially high correlations with skinfold thickness occur for chest width, depth, and hip width (r range from 0.42 to 0.66). Body frame dimensions reflect largely trunk volume and the trunk/limb proportions. Larger lean trunk size is associated with greater fatness. Since the size of the abdominal cavity, and thus the gastrointestinal system (GI), is reflected in the trunk size, we speculate that larger frame may predispose to obesity in two ways: (1) larger stomachs require greater bulk of food to produce feeling of satiety as mediated through antral distension, (2) larger GIs may absorb more nutrients. Frame size may help to detect the risk of obesity among young adults. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Androgyny in fat patterning is associated with obesity in adolescents and young adults

Recent work suggests that android or male-type obesity is characterized by fat cell enlargement on the trunk and upper body. This implies adult differences in patterns of body fat distribution may have developmental origins connected with differences in maturation or age of onset of obesity. To investigate this, we studied adolescent females (N = 455, 12 years), males (N = 527, 14 years) and young adults (N = 393 females and N = 413 males, 17 years) of the US Health Examination Survey. Five skinfolds and five maturity indicators were available. Individuals were classed as normal weight, overweight or obese on the basis of the body mass index (WT/HT2). Fat patterning was studied by principal components analysis of the log residual skinfold thickness at the five sites, which revealed trunk/extremity and upper/lower trunk fat distribution components in all sex/age groups studied. The means of both components were significantly (P less than 0.05) greater in obese than in normal weight individuals indicating that obesity in adolescence and young adulthood consists of fat concentrated on the upper aspect of the trunk. The effect was independent of maturity, which was a significant correlate of the trunk/extremity patterning component only and in males only. Advanced physiological maturity is probably not a determinant of adult patterns of body fat distribution, but obesity which occurs in adolescence may be.     

Adiposity and age of menarche in Hispanic women

Women with increased adiposity have been shown to have earlier menarche. However, the association between menarche and body fat distribution has been controversial. The present study examined relationships between several anthropometric data and age at menarche in 2,494 women aged 25 to 74 years from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Early menarche was similarly related to adiposity as measured by body mass index (BMI), skinfolds representative of central adiposity (subscapular and iliac), and skinfolds representative of peripheral adiposity (triceps and calf). These relationships persisted after controlling for a variety of influences such as socioeconomic status; they were consistent in all three ethnic groups studied, but were significant only in Puerto Rican women. Ratios of central/peripheral skinfold measures were not associated with menarche. These analyses describe the relationship between early maturation and overall adiposity in three distinct Hispanic groups and reject a specific association between menarche and central body fat distribution.     

Conicity: A new index of body fat distribution—what does it tell us?

“Conicity” (C) is an index of body fat distribution which expresses an individuals waist circumference relative to the circumference of a cylinder generated with that persons weight and height assuming a constant for body density (Valdez [1991] J. Clin. Epidemiol. 44:955–956). The more central a person is in fat distribution, the higher the value of C. In a pilot study of cardiovascular reactivity and dimensions of anger and hostility in 60 African-, Anglo-, and Hispanic-American adolescents, anthropometry and sexual maturation were determined to assess their mediating influence on the relation between anger and cardiovascular risk. The concurrent validity of three indices of body fat distribution was explored: conicity(C), waist/hip ratio (WHR), and central/peripheral skinfold ratio (C/P) by assessing their association with cardiovascular variables (CV) and other anthropometrics. Anthropometry included height, weight, fat mass estimated from bioelectrical impedance, four circumferences, and skinfolds. Maturation variables included menarche in girls, testes size in boys, and pubic hair in both sexes. Cardiovascular variables included resting diastolic and systolic blood pressures and heart rate, and the same three variables after recovery from a step test. The boys and girls were 15–16 years of age, and there were equal numbers in each sex/ethnic group. Partial correlations accounting for height (which was affected by ethnicity) and maturation stratified by gender are reported. C was more strongly related to CV risk in boys and girls than the other indices or the body mass index. Least related to CV risk was C/P, correlated only weakly to central skinfold fat. C and WHR are highly related (0.85) yet differ in important respects in both sexes: C is more closely related to body fat (0.62–0.66) and fat mass (0.53–0.77) than the WHR (respective correlations: 0.54–0.55 and 0.43–0.66). Thus, C relates not only to body shape but also to body fat. Indices of central fat such as circumference and skinfold ratios, may “over-correct” for total fatness and thus miss important aspects of risk prediction. Conicity may be a useful indicator of body fat distribution in studies of adolescents. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.