Body composition in middle-aged women with special reference to the correlation between body fat mass and anthropometric data.

A variety of anthropometric measurements was made in a randomized population sample of middle-aged women in five age strata in whom body composition was estimated from total body potassium and total body water determined by whole body counting and isotope dilution technique, respectively. No significant differences with age were found for total body potassium or total body water. A significant age difference was found for body fat mass. Simple linear correlations between anthropometric variables and body fat mass estimates were found to be 0.90, 0.86, 0.77 for body weight, buttock circumference, and sum of triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses, respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed that these three variables accounted for 80 to 91% of the variation in body fat in the different age strata studied. Multiple regression equations for prediction of body fat from anthropometric variables are given. In about two-thirds of the subjects, the difference between predicted body fat mass and estimated body fat mass was found to be less than +/- 2.5 kg.