The relationships between percent body fat and other anthropometric nutritional predictors among male and female children in Nigeria

Abstract

The relationships between the percent body fat and other nutritional
predictors were assessed among forty male and forty female children aged
2 – 10 years. Both sexes were age – matched. There was no significant
difference in age between the two groups (P >0.001). A weak significant
positive correlation was observed between the percent body fat and
height – armspan ratio in female children (r = 0.300;P = 0.05). Height
showed a high positive correlation with body’s armspan in males (r =
0.916; P= 0.001) Body mass armspan (BMA) correlated positively and
significantly with body mass index (BMI) in female (r = 0.922;P = 0.001).
The corrected bone – free arm muscle area (AMA) gave positive values in
females while two negative values of corrected AMA were observed in
males. Mid – upper arm circumference (MUAC) appeared to be a more
sensitive predictor of protein – energy malnutrition (PEM) in these
children. The mean MUAC was 17.03cm in males and 17.0 cm in females,
respectively. There was evidence of overweight and obesity in both
children. The mid – arm muscle circumference (MAMC) gave mean value
of 14.44 and 13.07 cm in males and females, respectively. The clinical
significance of MUAC, MAMC and corrected AMA measurements are
discussed (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 9: 45 – 52, 2006)

Keywords: body fat, Nutrition, anthropometric, children, Nigeria