title: Development of subcutaneous fat in Spanish and Latin American children and adolescents: Reference values for biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds.
abstract: Subcutaneous fat skinfolds represent a reliable assessment instrument of adiposity status. This study provides current percentile references for four subcutaneous skinfolds (biceps, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac) applicable to children and adolescents in Spain and in Latin American countries where data are scarce. The design consisted of a cross-sectional multicenter study performed with identical methods in 5 countries (Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Spain and Venezuela). Total sample comprised 9163 children and youths (boys 4615 - girls 4548) aged 6-18 years, healthy and without apparent pathologies. Percentiles 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 90, 95 and 97 were calculated by the LMS method. Sexual dimorphism was assessed using the t-test and age differences with ANOVA. Normalized growth percentile references were obtained according to sex and age for each skinfold. The mean values of four skinfolds were significantly greater in girls than boys (p<0.001) and, in both sexes, all skinfolds show statistical differences through age (p<0.001) with different magnitudes. Except triceps in girls, peaks between 11 and 12 years of age are more noticeable in boys than in girls. Although the general model of growth is known, the skinfold measurements show variability among populations and differences of magnitude are presented according to the analyzed population. Therefore, these age and sex-specific reference percentile values for biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds, derived from a large sample of Spanish and Latin American children and adolescents, are a useful tool for adiposity diagnosis in this population for which no reference values were available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Epinut Research Group, University Institute of Environmental Sciences (IUCA) Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain. Electronic address: marrodan@ucm.es.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Marrodán
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Epinut Research Group, University Institute of Environmental Sciences (IUCA) Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González-Montero de Espinosa
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biology, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares 28871, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Á
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Herráez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology of Altitude, National University of Jujuy, San Salvador de Jujuy 4600, Argentina.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Alfaro
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology of Altitude, National University of Jujuy, San Salvador de Jujuy 4600, Argentina.
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Bejarano
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid 28049, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carmenate
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Biological Anthropology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, National University of Catamarca, Catamarca 4700, Argentina.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Lomaglio
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Epinut Research Group, University Institute of Environmental Sciences (IUCA) Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: López-Ejeda
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biology, Havana University, La Habana 14000, Cuba.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Epinut Research Group, University Institute of Environmental Sciences (IUCA) Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mesa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Economical and Social Research, Central University of Venezuela, University City, Caracas 2009, Venezuela.
authors.forename: B Méndez
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Research Center in Food and Development (CIAD), Hermosillo 83000, Sonora, Mexico.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Meléndez
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Epinut Research Group, University Institute of Environmental Sciences (IUCA) Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moreno-Romero
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Epinut Research Group, University Institute of Environmental Sciences (IUCA) Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain; Department of Nursing and Podiatry, School of Nursing, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biology, Havana University, La Habana 14000, Cuba.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vázquez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology of Altitude, National University of Jujuy, San Salvador de Jujuy 4600, Argentina.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Dipierri
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D013030:Spain; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*