Introduction
Monitoring and knowing ones body fat composition can help individuals increase wellness while decreasing obesity related health complications. If one was aware of their body fat composition and saw that it was over or under the normal guidelines, they would be able to make lifestyle changes in order to promote their health. One of the most prevalent public health concerns in the United States is obesity. An obese individual increases his/her risks for several morbidities such as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, cancer, hypertension, and high cholesterol (Rogers, 2018). Obesity determines the relationship between body fat mass and fat free mass. The American College of Sports Medicine reports that the range for a healthy male’s body fat to be 5-25% and a female’s body fat ranging from 10-32%. Body fat, or adipose tissue, can also be broken down into essential and non-essential body fat. Essential body fat is considered to be adipose tissue that is needed to sustain life and it can be found in the yellow bone marrow. Males typically have 2-5% of essential body fat and females have 15%. Non-essential body fat is fat that is not necessary for the sustaining of life but it can act as storage of energy, which is why it is sometimes called storage fat. Non-essential fat can be found between muscles, which is called intermuscular. It can also be found in the muscle fibers, which is called intramuscular. These types of fats are normally found in a very small amount because most of the non-essential fat is located in the viscera (around the organs) or just beneath the skin as subcutaneous fat. A healthy average for males’ non-essential fat is about 12% whereas females average at about 15%. You can see throughout the values and ranges of males and females that males typically have lower percentages. This discrepancy is related to a female’s ability to birth a child. Stored fat is needed in order for females to provide essential energy and vitamins to the baby during pregnancy. The nutritional level of the mother during gestation and the amount of fat gained play a large role in the healthy growth of the fetus (Villar, Cogswell, Kestler, Castillo, Menendez, Repke, 1992).
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There are many different ways to measure fat tissue. There is the method that measures the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, the skinfold method, the bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA), and the bod pod. BMI refers to the ratio between an individual’s height and weight, which is a ratio that shows risk associated with high BMI. BMI and body fat percentage have been shown to directly correlate (Gallagher, Heymsfield, Heo, Jebb, Murgatroyd, & Sakamoto, 2000). Subcutaneous fat and visceral fat are assessed by waist circumference. One can compare their waist circumference to the ACSM classifications to determine the health risk. These two methods are easy and fast methods of estimating the health risk of a person in regards to their fat; but these methods are not always an accurate means of measure. The skinfold method assesses subcutaneous fat and sets a correlation between subcutaneous fat and total body fat. The accuracy of this method depends on the technician who is performing the test, which could be a discrepancy. Also, the subject who is being measured can flex or suck in while they are being measured which would produce false readings. The most accurate method for assessing body fat is through densitometry. Densitometry is bioelectrical impedance analysis and air displacement plethysmography. These methods derive body composition. BIA assesses body densities through electrical currents and ADP measures volumes of air, and both use weight as a basis for body fat calculations. Although densitometry is more accurate than the previous methods described, it still lacks 100% accuracy because it is based on the fact that the densities of different body parts are the same, separate densities of tissue are additive, and that the amount of tissue is constant (Rogers, 2018). Performing this experiment will allow us to see the different ways to find the amount of body fat. There will be a wide range between the results of each subject from each of the different measuring methods.
Methods
Participants
There were 7 subjects total who volunteered for the various tests. Subject 1 is a 22-year-old male that describes his physical activity level as exercising four times a week and doing anaerobic exercise. Subject 2 is a 21-year-old female who exercises four times a week doing anaerobic activity. Subject 3 is a 21-year-old male who is very active describing that he exercises both aerobic and anaerobic exercise 6 times a week. Subject 4 is a female who is 21years old and is not very active, reporting that she only exercises one time a week. Subjects 5, 6, and 7 are from the bod pod test and reported that they are active, active, and not active, respectively. Subject 5 is a 22-year-old female, subject 6 is a 20-year-old female, and subject 7 is a 20-year-old female as well.
Materials
There were a lot of instruments used during this experiment in each test. To calculate the BMI of the participants, a stadiometer and medical scale were used. For waist circumference, a body tape measure was used. For the skinfold test, a skinfold caliper was used. For BIA a handheld body fat monitor was used and for ADP the bod pod was used.
Measures
The standard measure in these tests was that weight was recorded in kilograms (kg) and height was recorded in meters (m). Subjects also were instructed to record their activity levels. When calculating BMI, we used the equation 1.2*BMI + (0.23*age) – (10.8 * sex) – 5.4 with sex being 0 for women and 1 for men. The dial caliper was used to measure the thickness of the skin during the skinfold test. It was used in three different places on both males and females. For males the locations were the chest, abdomen, and the thigh. For females the locations were the triceps, the suprailiac, and the thigh. The subjects were measured twice in each location and then averaged. The equation difference between the two sexes with males body density being calculated using the following equation: 1.1093800-0.0008267 (Sum of three Skinfolds (SSF)) + 0.0000016 SSF2 – 0.0002574(Age). The female body density was calculated using the equation:1.099421-0.0009929 SSF + 0.0000023 SSF2 – 0.0001392(Age).The values from these two equations were then put into the Siri equation or Schutte equation. The Siri equation is less accurate than the Schutte equation because it underestimates the body fat percentage of African Americans; therefore it is used for the general population. The Schutte equation is measured by using the equation 473/body density – 393. The BIA is calculated by using the monitor’s electrical currents. The ADP was measured using the bod pod in regards to the participant’s demographics to calculate fat percentage. From these two machines, the principle that is used is density, or mass over volume. We use this because fat free mass and fat mass have different densities.
Procedures
For the BMI test the subjects removed their shoes and stood with their backs to the stadiometer. The tech lowered the stadiometer to their head to take the reading. The subjects them were asked to stand on a scale where the tech could record their weight. The waist circumference was measured by wrapping a tape measure around the smallest part of the subject’s torso. For the skin fold measurements, the subjects were asked to keep their bodies relaxed to get the most accurate readings. The body parts that are measured are different for males and females. The dial caliper was used by the tech to pinch the skin at three points on each person. The sites pinched were the chest, abdomen and thigh for male subjects and the triceps, suprailiac and thigh for the female subjects. The tech located the midpoint of the skinfold sites and the results were read in 2-4 seconds with the skin still being pinched. The subjects were informed to lean their weight on the leg that was not being measured in order to keep the one being measured relaxed. The sites were measured two times and if the result differed by more than 2mm they took a third reading and averaged the results. For the BIA test, the subject’s demographic characteristics were entered into the device. The subjects then stood with their hands outstretched while tightly gripping the device for the measurement. For the ADP test the subjects were instructed to wear the least amount of clothing they were comfortable with and to make sure that there was no loose clothing. The subjects information was entered in to the system and then the bod pod calibrated the results after being zeroed out with the cylinder.
Results
Table 1. Participant Demographics & Anthropometric Measurements
Subject
Age
Gender
Height(cm)
Weight (kg)
BMI(kg/m^2)
Waist Circumference)
Classification
1
22
Male
182.88
73.48
22
74
Very low
2
21
Female
154.94
48.99
20.4
66
Very low
3
21
Male
185.42
79.38
23
80
Low
4
21
Female
172.72
69.40
23.3
76
Low
5
22
Female
172.70
89.14
29.9
—
—
6
20
Female
152.40
43.85
18.9
—
—
7
20
Female
165.1
55.22
20.3
—
—
Table 2. Physical Activity Status of Participants
Subject
Physical Activity Level
1
4xs a week, anaerobic
2
4xs a week, aerobic
3
6xs a week, anaerobic and aerobic
4
1x a week, aerobic
5
Active
6
Active
7
Not Active
Table 3. Data from Skinfolds
Subject
SF (Chest)
SF (Abdomen)
SF (Thigh
SF(Tricep)
SF (Thigh)
SF(Waist)
BD (SF) kg/L
%BF (SF)
1
5
15
17
—
—
—
1.07
12.62
2
—
—
—
16
14
16
1.06
16.98
3
4.5
10
8
1.08
8.33
4
—
—
—
14
20
22
1.05
21.43
Key: SF= Skin fold, BD= Body density, BF= Body fat
Table 4. Data from ADP
Subject
BD (ADP) kg/L
%BF (ADP)
2
1.06
14.9
5
1.05
24.7
6
1.09
3.5
7
1.07
13.2
Key: BD= Body density, BF= Body fat
Table 5. Comparison of Body Comp Measures
Subject
% BF (BMI)
% BF (Skinfold)
% BF (BIA)
% BF (ADP)
% BF Range
1
15.26
12.62
6.2
—
6.2-15.26
2
23.91
16.98
15
14.9
14.9-23.91
3
16.23
8.33
10.7
—
8.33-16.23
4
27.39
21.43
23.5
—
21.43-27.39
5
35.54
—
—
24.7
24.7-35.54
6
21.88
—
—
3.5
3.5-21.88
7
23.56
—
—
13.2
13.2-23.56
Key: BF= body fat
The results from the body fat tests led to many findings. When looking at the activity levels subject 3 reports that he was the most active out of all the subjects and also has the lowest body fat percentage from the BMI and the skin fold tests. Subject 1 is also a relatively active person and he resulted with the lowest percentage for the BIA test. For the ADP test, subject 6 resulted with the lowest percentage of body fat out of all the subjects for every test.
Discussion
As was stated in the hypothesis, there was variability in the results of the body fat percentage between the various methods used. There is a minimum range of 7.9 percent and a maximum range of 18.38 percent. The large ranges could be due to a number of reasons. One reason could be that the technicians who performed the skinfold test were doing it wrong or the subject themselves were stretching or clenching their muscles, which would all result in a false reading. When determining the validity of the subjects BMI’s, we know that this method does not take into consideration the subjects activity levels or lean muscle ratios. BIA and ADP are known to be the most accurate methods of determining body fat percentage, but there are still errors that can be made.
High levels of activity are correlated with lower body fat percentage (Tremblay et. Al, 1990). Since subject 2 performed all of the tests, we will look at her results to compare. You can see that all of her results were relatively similar with the biggest gap being the BMI compared to the rest of the tests but as stated earlier BMI does not take into account your activity status. Subject 2 is an active individual, which shows through her results since she is in the normal healthy range for a female. Subjects 5, 6, and 7’s results from their BMI calculation to their ADP calculations all seem to have very high differences all being over a 10% difference. This also proves that using ones BMI to obtain their body fat percentage is not the most accurate way.
Another interesting result that can be concluded from these tests is the hypothesis that female skinfold anatomical sites give a better reading than the anatomical sites of males. As seen in subjects 2 and 4, their skinfold results are very close to their BIA results while subject 1 and 3 have a higher difference. Again, taking into account human error we cannot truly prove this correlation, but it is another finding that can be researched and investigated. What can be concluded here is that there is a correlation between higher fat mass percentage and females (Camhi Sarah M et. Al., 2012). We can see that the two male subjects had lower fat mass percentages than the female subjects. The biggest limitation that this experiment had was sample size as well as variability. Since the data is so variable due to human error and the sample size is so small, it is hard to reach any definite conclusion based on the data we collected.
References
Camhi Sarah M., Bray George A., Bouchard Claude, Greenway Frank L., Johnson William D., Newton Robert L., … Katzmarzyk Peter T. (2012). The Relationship of Waist Circumference and BMI to Visceral, Subcutaneous, and Total Body Fat: Sex and Race Differences. Obesity, 19(2), 402–408. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2010.248
Gallagher, D., Heymsfield, S. B., Heo, M., Jebb, S. A., Murgatro, P. R., & Sakamoto, Y. (2000). Healthy percentage body fat ranges: an approach for developing guidelines based on body mass index. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 72(3), 694–701. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/72.3.694
Rogers, M. A. (2017). Body composition labs [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from: https://umd.instructure.com/courses/1239980/files/folder/LAB/7)%20Body%20C omp?preview=48576928
Tremblay, A., Després, J. P., Leblanc, C., Craig, C. L., Ferris, B., Stephens, T., & Bouchard, C. (1990). Effect of intensity of physical activity on body fatness and fat distribution. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51(2), 153–157. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/51.2.153
Villar, J., Cogswell, M., Kestler, E., Castillo, P., Menendez, R., & Repke, J. T. (1992). Effect of fat and fat-free mass deposition during pregnancy on birth weight. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 167(5), 1344–1352. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9378(11)91714-1
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