Agreement between clinical methods for the assessment of body fat

In recent years, the medical community and the public have become more aware that body composition assessment is an important factor in combating obesity. Various body composition methods exist, both for research and clinical use. A study was conducted on fifty-four (n=54) young adults, of varying body build, in order to evaluate bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and skinfold thickness (SKF) measurements. By means of results from measurements by SKF and BIA, an attempt has been made to asses the agreement between the methods for the prediction of the quantity of fat in the body. Body fat percentage (BF%) was the primary outcome variable. The mean BF% (plusmnSD) that resulted from the SKF device was 19.96 (plusmn7.51) and was not statistically different from the leg-to-leg BIA result of 20.15 (plusmn7.74). However, the arm-to-arm 16.27 (plusmn8.03) BIA results for BF% were statistically different from both the SKF and the leg-to-leg BIA by a post ANOVA Tukey´s Multiple Comparison test. As previous papers have suggested, the results of this study indicate several factors that limit the valid applications of both BIA and SKF measurements. A direction for effective improvement is provided.