title: Change of body composition over an eight year period among Japanese university students.
abstract: This study examined the change of body composition in Japanese university students. Subjects were university students divided into two groups by sex for two different time periods: 67 males and 46 females for 1986-1987 and 47 males and 64 females for 1994-1995. Body height, weight, and underwater weight were measured to estimate the percentage of body fat. The fat mass index (FMI) was applied after adjusting fat mass and the fat-free mass index (FFMI) applied after adjusting fat-free mass for body physique by dividing (body height)2. The mean body mass index (BMI) increased from 1986-1987 to 1994-1995 in males and decreased in females, although there were no statistical differences between two time periods in both sexes. The FMI indicates that in 1994-1995 males had significantly more fat adjusted for body height than in 1987. Females in 1994-1995 had significantly less FFMI than those in 1986 despite FMI similar to that of 1986. Our results thus warn against a trend toward excessive thinness in collegiate females and insufficiency of evaluating body composition using the BMI alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health & Physical Education, Faculty of Education, Ibaraki University, Mito, Japan. tanakas@mito.ipc.ibaraki.ac.jp
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tobe
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Satake
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chumlea
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D044466:Asian People; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D013334:Students