Four-site skinfolds and body fat percentage references in 6-to-17-year old Turkish children and adolescents

Objective: As skinfolds from four-sites (triceps, biceps, subscapular, suprailiac) and body fat percentage in 6-17 years is lacking in Turkey. This study was undertaken to produce references for four-site skinfolds and body fat percentage in children and adolescents. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2007-May 2008 in Kayseri, Turkey, after approval by ethics committee of Erciyes University and local educational authority. Data were obtained from the Determination of Anthropometric Measures of Turkish Children and Adolescents Study-II. Using multistage sampling method, 4285 children were selected from the schools representing city centre, rural and urban areas of the province. Skinfolds were measured from four sites and body fat percentage was calculated according to Westrate and Deurenberg equation. LMS Chart Maker Pro version 2.3 software was used to obtain skinfold references. Results: There were 1914(44.6%) boys, 2371(55.3%) girls in the study; the age range being6-17 years. The peripheral skinfolds increased with age for girls (7.2 mm at age 10 versus 8.7 mm at age 17), while this was true for boys until 10 years (6.2 mm at age 10 versus 4.2 mm at age 17) after which the values gradually decreased. In terms of central skinfolds, girls had higher numbers in each age (11.7 mm for boys versus 12.8 mm for girls at age 6; 24.9 mm versus 26.3 mm at age 17). Conclusion: Skinfolds and body fat percentage provide information that helps monitor secular trends in obesity in Turkey and may be used to make national and international comparisons in the future.