Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | In order to be more specific about the estimated value of individual body fat from anthropometric equations, we have compared the individual results calculated by twenty equations found in the literature with the density measurements by underwater weighing for 50 male students in physical education. The students average percent fat is 10.61%±2.8% with values from 6% to 19%. For the same equation, applied to 50 subjects, the difference between the calculated value and the value, measured by densimetry, ranges from -5.9% to +3.4% at best and from -9.7% to +10.5% at worst. That is to say a total variation from 9.3% to 20.2%. For the same subject, the difference between the calculated value, by each of the twenty equations, and the value, measured by densimetry, ranges from -4.7% to +5.8% at best and from -10.9% to +8.9% at worst. So the total variation ranges from 10.6% to 19.8%. It happens that a student has a negative value of total percent fat, calculated by an anthropometric equation or a value three times higher than the value by densimetry. The equation content does not assure a better validity. The use of an anthropometric equation, found in the literature, to calculate the total percent fat of a subject is to avoid. It is still better, for the evaluation of the individual body composition by anthropometric measurements, to use only their absolute values. © 1987 Editions Scientifiques Elsevier. |
