Garrow J S, Webster J
Int J Obes. 1985;9(2):147-53.
A weight-height index of adiposity should indicate the relative fatness of subjects of differing height unless obesity is itself correlated with height. The average body fat among adult women attending a hospital outpatient clinic for obesity was 40.5 percent of body weight. The height of an unselected series of 286 of these outpatients was found to be similar to that of the general population of women of similar age, which indicates that obesity in adult women is not significantly related to height. Body composition was measured by body density, body water and body potassium in a series of 104 female and 24 male subjects aged 14-60 years. In both sexes density, water and potassium gave progressively higher estimates of body fat (kg), and there was a significant difference between the values by different methods. The average of the estimates by these three methods was taken to be the 'true' value for each individual (F kg). Regression of F/H2 on W/H2 (Quetelet's index) gave a correlation coefficient of 0.955 for women and 0.943 for men. The deviation of the body fat estimated from Quetelet's formula from the 'true' value was not much greater than that when density, water or potassium were used as a basis for estimating body fat. It is concluded that Quetelet's formula is both a convenient and reliable indicator of obesity.
除非肥胖本身与身高相关，否则体重-身高肥胖指数应能表明不同身高受试者的相对肥胖程度。在一家医院门诊治疗肥胖症的成年女性中，平均体脂占体重的40.5%。对其中未经挑选的286名门诊患者的身高进行测量后发现，其身高与年龄相仿的普通女性群体的身高相似，这表明成年女性的肥胖与身高并无显著关联。对104名年龄在14至60岁之间的女性和24名男性受试者，通过身体密度、身体水分和身体钾含量来测量身体成分。在男女两性中，密度、水分和钾含量对体脂（千克）的估计值逐渐升高，且不同方法所得数值之间存在显著差异。这三种方法估计值的平均值被视为每个个体的“真实”值（F千克）。F/H2对W/H2（奎特利指数）的回归分析得出，女性的相关系数为0.955，男性为0.943。根据奎特利公式估算的体脂与“真实”值之间的偏差，并不比以密度、水分或钾含量为基础估算体脂时的偏差大多少。由此得出结论，奎特利公式是一种既方便又可靠的肥胖指标。
