title: Body fat assessment in Sri Lankan adolescent girls; development of a simple field tool.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Development of accurate, simple measures of body fat is essential in developing countries due to the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity. Application of skin-fold thickness (SFT) to body fat prediction equations is an inexpensive method suitable for field settings.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine percentage fat mass (%FM) of Sri Lankan adolescent girls using Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometry (FTIR) as a reference method and develop a SFT-prediction equation to estimate %FM.
  
  
  METHODS
  Weight, height and SFT were measured and %FM determined by FTIR in 131 adolescent, post-menarcheal girls (15-19 years). SFT-measurements were applied to available body composition equations for validation in the population. A new equation for %FM was derived and validated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean %FM (FTIR) was 19.13 ± 8.2.Selected body composition prediction equations over-estimated %FM. The multiple regression procedure yielded a final equation consisting of two anthropometric and one demographic variable, % FM = 9.701 - (0.460)* age+(0.640)*TricepsSFT+(0.583)*Supra-iliacSFT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Existing SFT prediction-equations are unsuitable for predicting %FM in this population. The new equation utilizing one peripheral and one truncal skin-fold, is appropriate for prediction of %FM in this population and may be applicable to other South Asian/Asian-Indian adolescents following validation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Maduka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Lanerolle-Dias
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Silva
authors.forename: Pulani
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lanerolle
authors.forename: Carukshi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arambepola
authors.forename: Sunethra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atukorala
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods*; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013188:Sri Lanka; D055815:Young Adult