Assessment of body composition by using a new chart method

✍ Scribed by Komei Hattori; Nobunao Tatsumi; Shigeho Tanaka

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 113 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1042-0533
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6300(1997)9:5<573::aid-ajhb5>3.0.co;2-v

✦ Synopsis

The body mass index (BMI, weight/height ), is commonly used as a simple and valid way of assessing body composition. However, the significance of the BMI is not clear, since body mass is composed of two main components: fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM), each with different densities. In order to graphically present body composition as a quantitative measure, a chart based on the fat-free mass index (FFMI, FFM/height ) and fat mass index (FMI; FM/height ), as reported in a previous paper (Hattori, J. Anthropol. Soc. Nippon 99:141-148, 1991), was revised by adding information on both the percentages of body fat (%fat) and the BMI. The benefit of the new chart method is its simplicity which comes from the application of two variables on a two dimensional chart. The chart containing the lines of %fat and the BMI can be of use in detecting multiple aspects of body composition since it provides four pieces of information at the same time: FMI, FFMI, BMI, and %fat. Am. J Hum. Biol. 9:573-578, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.