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Reference body composition and anthropometry

International Journal of Obesity volume 29, page 1010 (2005)Cite this article

Jordão et al1 have compared midarm body composition of subjects with different nutritional status, using computed tomography (CT) scan and anthropometry. In detail, they estimated the traditional Jelliffe upper arm fat area (UFA) formula2 calculated from arm circumference (C) and triceps skinfold (T), reaching the conclusion that this formula underestimates the fat area. This conclusion was already reported by other authors.3, 4 A few years ago we conducted a similar study, comparing anthropometry and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in obese and normal weight children.5 We also found that the Jelliffe formula underestimated fat area in both groups and more markedly in the obese. Moreover, we proposed a simplified formula C × (T/2) that we named the upper arm fat area estimate (UFE), and found its results very close to MRI data in both studied groups.

Using mean C and T data reported in Jordão's paper,1 we calculated the UFE, and compared the results with UFA and CT scan data. Table 1 shows closer values to CT scan using UFE than using UFA, suggesting that UFE also applies to adults. However, it appears to overestimate the arm fat area in malnourished subjects.

Table 1 Upper arm fat area calculated from Jelliffe (UFA) and Rolland-Cachera et al (UFE) formulas compared with computed tomography
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References

  1. Jordão Jr AA, Bellucci AD, Dutra de Oliveira JE, Marchini JS . Midarm cumputerized tomography fat, muscle and total areas correlation with nutritional assessment data. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2004; 28: 1451–1455.

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  5. Rolland-Cachera MF, Brambilla P, Manzoni P, Akrout M, Sironi S, Del Maschio A, Chiumello G . Body composition assessed on the basis of arm circumference and triceps skinfold thickness: a new index validated in children by magnetic resonance imaging. Am J Clin Nutr 1997; 65: 1709–1713.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U557 Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, ISTNA-CNAM, 2 rue Conté, Paris, 75003, France

    M F Rolland-Cachera

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Scientific Institute H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy

    P Brambilla

Authors
  1. M F Rolland-Cachera
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  2. P Brambilla
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Rolland-Cachera, M., Brambilla, P. Reference body composition and anthropometry. Int J Obes 29, 1010 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802963

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