Influence of body fat distribution during childhood on body fat distribution in adulthood: a two-decade follow-up study.

Development of body fat distribution was assessed in a two-decade follow-up study. The present article describes the development of various trunk/extremity ratios and gives the figures by age and sex between 1 month to 21 years. The relationship between adult and childhood skinfold (SF) ratio measurements is weak in boys and slightly better in girls. From the present and our previous study, we can select adiposity measurements in children which both are associated to pathologies and have the best correlations with adult values, i.e. the body mass index (BMI) in both sexes, trunk SF in boys and the subscapular/arm SF ratio in girls. Consequently, a boy with both high BMI and trunk SF values or a girl with both high BMI and subscapular/arm SF values have an increased risk of centralized obesity at adult age.