Four-site skinfolds thickness percentiles of schoolchildren and adolescents in Turkey

Objective: The primary purpose of the current study was to establish Turkishsmoothed centile charts and Lambda, Mu, Sigma (LMS) tables for four-site skinfoldthickness based on a population-based sample, and secondary purpose was toelaborate a reference for the percentage of body fat.Design: A cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted between Januaryand May 2017. Triceps, biceps and subscapular, suprailiac skinfold thicknesseswere measured using Holtain skinfold caliper. Age- and gender-specific percentilevalues were determined with the LMS method, and body fat percentage was calculatedusing the Westrate and Deurenberg equation.Setting: Afyonkarahisar province in Turkey.Participants: The current study was conducted on 4565, 6–18-year-old students.Results: The triceps, biceps and subscapular skinfolds of the girls were higher thanthe boys. From the age of seven, the sum of four skinfold thicknesses of the girlswas more than those of the boys. This difference became more evident after theage of 12. Although fat percentages of girls showed a fluctuating change, itdecreased with the age in boys. Westrate and Deurenberg equation fat percentagesof girls until adolescence were lower than boys, but increased after 12 years of ageand exceeded that of boys.Conclusions: The current study has provided sex- and age-specific reference valuesfor skinfold thickness and has shown that obesity in girls is higher than in boysin schoolchildren in Afyonkarahisar. The current study has also shown that skinfoldthickness measurements are a valuable tool for screening obesity in children.