title: Relationships between the Body Mass Index and body composition.
abstract: The aims of this study were to evaluate the Body Mass Index (BMI) (weight/stature2) as a proxy for percent body fat (%BF) and to determine its association with fat-free mass (FFM). Multivariate analysis of variance and partial correlations were used to examine relationships between BMI and %BF and FFM from densitometry for 504 men and 511 women, aged 20 to 45 years. Sensitivity/specificity analyses used cut offs of 28 kg/m2 in men and 26 kg/m2 in women for BMI, and 25% in men and 33% in women for %BF. Significantly higher associations existed in each gender between BMI and %BF in the upper BMI tertile than in the lower BMI tertiles. In the lower BMI tertiles, correlations between BMI and FFM were approximately twice as large as those between BMI and %BF. The BMI correctly identified about 44% of obese men, and 52% of obese women when obesity was determined from %BF. BMI is an uncertain diagnostic index of obesity. Results of Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) analyses using %BF and total body fat, both provided a BMI of 25 kg/m2 in men and 23 kg/m2 in women as diagnostic screening cut offs for obesity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, Wright State University, Dayton OH 45387, USA.
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Wellens
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Khamis
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Siervogel
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity