title: Percentage body fat and anthropometric measures in Hong Kong adolescents.
abstract: This study investigates the associations between percentage body fat (%BF) and anthropometric parameters in adolescents of mixed weight status. Anthropometric parameters including height, weight, and waist circumference (WC), and %BF were assessed in 903 Hong Kong Chinese students (mean age 14.7 years). The calculated body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-stature ratio (WSR) were used to classify students into different weight status groups and central obesity groups, respectively. The %BF/BMI and %BF/WC relationships were examined by partial correlation coefficients and linear regression models. The %BF correlated significantly with BMI, except in underweight boys. BMI predicted %BF better (adjusted R (2): 0.40 in boys; 0.85 in girls) than WC (adjusted R (2): 0.34 in boys; 0.63 in girls) or WSR (adjusted R (2): 0.33 in boys; 0.60 in girls). In general, BMI predicts %BF better than WC or WSR in Hong Kong adolescents, but these relationships are sex and weight status specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine and School Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. kkmak@graduate.hku.hk
authors.forename: Kwok-Kei
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Mak
authors.forename: Alison M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.forename: Ching-Man
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000208:ethnology; D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size / Q000208:ethnology; D001835:Body Weight; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D055105:Waist Circumference