Validation of anthropometric and bioelectrical impedance equations for the prediction of fat mass amongst South African children
Authors' conclusion
The performance of published equations varied considerably upon external validation in this South African childhood population. Notably, the Hudda et al. (2019) equation, which relies solely on readily available information of weight, height, sex, age and ethnicity, produced one of the highest R2 values, was well calibrated, and produced a low RMSE value (1.4 kg). Alternative equations which also performed very well relied on additional measurements of skinfold thickness and/or BIA which require equipment, training, extra costs and additional time to obtain.
Study context
- Population
- Black African children aged 5 to 8 years, South Africa (42% male)19 equations validated
- Participants
- 323 children
- Exposure
- Published anthropometric, skinfold and bioelectrical impedance (BIA) fat mass prediction equations vs deuterium dilution observed fat mass (FM)
- Outcome
- Agreement of equation-estimated FM with deuterium dilution observed FM: R2, calibration (slope and calibration-in-the-large) and RMSE
Methodological detailsexternal validation, Equations extracted from three systematic reviews; developed on >100 males and females
- External validation
- Equations extracted from three systematic reviews; developed on >100 males and females
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
R2 range, lowest (BIA manufacturer equation) to highest (Britz et al. (2017) skinfold equation)
58.3% to 89.0%
Root mean square error (RMSE) range, lowest (Wendel et al. (2016) skinfold equation) to highest (Horlick et al. (2002) BIA equation)
1.1 kg to 3.4 kg
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
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