The assessment of the amount of fat in the human body from measurements of skinfold thickness

TLDR

The study measured skinfold thickness and body density in 105 adults and 86 adolescents, derived regression equations to predict body fat with ±3.5% error, and tabulated body‑fat percentages from skin‑fold measurements. Skinfold thicknesses correlated strongly with body density, with correlation coefficients near –0.80. The abstract contains four numbered items.

Abstract

1. Skinfold thickness and body density were measured on 105 young adult men and women and 86 adolescent boys and girls. 2. The correlation coefficients between the skinfold thicknesses, either single or multiple, and density were in the region of −0.80. 3. Regression equations were calculated to predict body fat from skinfolds with an error of about ±3.5%. 4. A table gives the percentage of the body-weight as fat from the measurement of skin-fold thickness.