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Population differences in the relationship between height, weight, and adiposity: an application of Burton's model.
- Source :
-
American journal of physical anthropology [Am J Phys Anthropol] 2013 May; Vol. 151 (1), pp. 68-76. Date of Electronic Publication: 2013 Mar 29. - Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- The study of human variation in adiposity and lean mass is important for understanding core processes in human evolution, and is increasingly a public health concern as the "obesity epidemic" expands globally. The dominant measure of population differences in adiposity is Body Mass Index (BMI), which suffers from systematic biases across populations due to variation in the relationship between true body fat, height and weight. Here we develop simplified corrections for such anthropometric-based measures of adiposity that can take into account this population variation. These corrections derive from a recent model proposed by Burton that assumes humans accrue mass in two ways-growth in height that adds bone and muscle, and growth in body fat and the ancillary fat-free mass (FFM) needed to support this additional body fat. We analyze two ethnically diverse datasets with dual X-ray absorptiometry-measured (DXA) fat mass, assessing the fit of Burton's model and deriving novel corrections based on estimated musculoskeletal slenderness. The resulting model provides excellent fit to fat mass within populations (average R2 = 0.92 for women and R2 = 0.83 for men). World populations differ dramatically in musculoskeletal slenderness (up to a difference of 4.4 kg/m2), as do men and women (differences of 3.3-4.5 kg/m2), leading to clear population corrections. These findings point to a conceptually straightforward tool for estimating true differences in adiposity across populations, and suggest an alternative to BMI that provides a more accurate and theoretically based estimate of body fat than that traditionally derived from height and weight measures.<br /> (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)
- Subjects :
- Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anthropology, Physical
Body Weight physiology
Databases, Factual
Ethnicity statistics & numerical data
Exercise
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
New Zealand
United States
Adiposity physiology
Body Mass Index
Models, Biological
Racial Groups statistics & numerical data
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1096-8644
- Volume :
- 151
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- American journal of physical anthropology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 23553559
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22258