The development and validation of new equations for estimating body fat percentage among Chinese men and women. Issue 9 (8th April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Xin; Sun, Qi; Sun, Liang; Zong, Geng; Lu, Ling; Liu, Gang; Rosner, Bernard; Ye, Xingwang; Li, Huaixing; Lin, Xu
• Is Part Of: British journal of nutrition. Volume 113:Issue 9(2015)
• Page Start: 1365
• Page End: 1372
• Publication Date: 2015-04-08
• Subjects: Body fat percentage, -- Equations, -- Type 2 diabetes, -- Prospective studies; Nutrition -- Periodicals; 572.4
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114515000616
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-1145

Abstract

Abstract : Equations based on simple anthropometric measurements to predict body fat percentage (BF%) are lacking in Chinese population with increasing prevalence of obesity and related abnormalities. We aimed to develop and validate BF% equations in two independent population-based samples of Chinese men and women. The equations were developed among 960 Chinese Hans living in Shanghai (age 46·2 (sd 5·3) years; 36·7 % male) using a stepwise linear regression and were subsequently validated in 1150 Shanghai residents (58·7 (sd 6·0) years; 41·7 % male; 99 % Chinese Hans, 1 % Chinese minorities). The associations of equation-derived BF% with changes of 6-year cardiometabolic outcomes and incident type 2 diabetes (T2D) were evaluated in a sub-cohort of 780 Chinese, compared with BF% measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; BF%-DXA). Sex-specific equations were established with age, BMI and waist circumference as independent variables. The BF% calculated using new sex-specific equations (BF%-CSS) were in reasonable agreement with BF%-DXA (mean difference: 0·08 (2 sd 6·64) %, P = 0·606 in men; 0·45 (2 sd 6·88) %, P < 0·001 in women). In multivariate-adjusted models, the BF%-CSS and BF%-DXA showed comparable associations with 6-year changes in TAG, HDL-cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, C-reactive protein and uric acid ( P for comparisons ≥ 0·05). Meanwhile, the BF%-CSS and BF%-DXA had comparable areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for associations with incident T2D (men P = 0·327; women P = 0·159). The BF% equations might be used as surrogates for DXA to estimate BF% among adult Chinese. More studies are needed to evaluate the application of our equations in different populations.