Body composition of white and black Brazilian schoolchildren.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate body composition of black and white schoolchildren in Brazil.


METHODS
The study included 1,443 children aged 6-11 years, both genders, black and white skin colors. The measures of weight, height, BMI, brachial perimeter, tricipital and subscapular skinfolds, lean and fat area of the arm were transformed into standard deviation scores (SDS).


RESULTS
As to frequency of variables under -2 SDS, only arm perimeter and lean area of the arm in both white and black schoolchildren showed results over 7%, but tricipital and subscapular skinfolds, fat area of the arm, sum of skinfolds and fat percentage, in both skin colors, presented results close to zero. As to frequency of variables over +2 SDS, only fat percentage presented results over 5% in both skin colors.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study did not find important differences in body composition between black and white schoolchildren in this group of the Brazilian population.
Center of Investigation in Pediatrics, Department ofPediatrics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Roberto Regis
RR
Ribeiro
Keila Donassolo Santos
KD
Ribeiro
Gil
G
Guerra-Júnior
Antonio de Azevedo
Ade A
Barros-Filho
D050154:Adiposity; D000886:Anthropometry; D044383:Black People; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D044465:White People