The Concept of CMR
Slides, videos and moreEvaluating CMR
Clinical Tools
Indices of Total Adiposity
- 1Key Points (1 page)
- 2Indices of Total Adiposity (1 page)
- 3Indices of Total Adiposity - BMI (2 pages)
- 4Indices of Total Adiposity - Skinfolds (1 page)
- 5Indices of Total Adiposity – BIA (1 page)
- 6Indices of Total Adiposity – Densitometry (Hydrostatic Weighing and Air Displacement Plethysmography) (1 page)
- 7References (1 page)
Indices of Total Adiposity - Skinfolds
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Figure 1: 
Figure 1: Skinfold measures are commonly used to assess total and regional subcutaneous adiposity. Skinfold measures are useful for estimating total adiposity, but are unable to measure intra-abdominal fat directly. Skinfold calipers (Figure 1) are used to measure the thickness of a double layer of folded skin and fat at common landmarks, such as the biceps, triceps, chest, subscapular, iliac crest, abdomen, anterior thigh, and medial calf (27-30). These skinfold thicknesses can be entered into one of several equations (31, 32) that use various skinfold combinations to estimate total body fat with accuracies ranging from moderate to good (Standard Error of Estimate (SEE): 3 to 11%) (28). However, many of the common skinfold equations tend to overestimate body fat in lean individuals and underestimate body fat in obese individuals (33, 34). Furthermore, it requires a fair amount of expertise to accurately and reliably measure skinfold thicknesses, as they are subject to higher inter- and intra-observer error than circumferences (35). It is also unclear whether skinfold measures offer any clear advantage over simpler measures such as BMI and waist circumference in predicting health risk (36-39).
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