Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Anthropometric body fat composition reference values in Spanish adolescents. The AVENA Study

Abstract

Objective:

To determine reference values for body mass index (BMI), sum of six skinfolds (∑6 skinfolds) and body fat percentage (BF%) in Spanish adolescents aged 13–18 years, included in the AVENA Study (Alimentación y Valoración del Estado Nutricional en Adolescentes: Food and Assessment of the Nutritional Status of Adolescents).

Design:

Multicentre cross-sectional study.

Setting:

Representative sample of Spanish adolescents.

Subjects:

The population was selected by means of a multiplestep, simple random sampling. The final number of subjects included in the AVENA Study was 2859 adolescents; 2160 adolescents had a complete set of anthropometric measurements and were then included in this study (1109 males and 1051 females).

Interventions:

Weight, height and six skinfold thicknesses were measured. As indices of total adiposity, we calculated BMI, ∑6 skinfolds and BF% with the formulas described by Slaughter et al.

Results:

∑6 skinfolds and BF% in each age group were significantly higher in females than in males. In males, age showed a significant effect for BMI, ∑6 skinfolds and BF%; however, in females, the effect was only significant for BF%. The percentile distribution was more disperse towards higher ∑6 skinfolds and BF% values in males when compared with females.

Conclusions:

The presented percentile values will help us to classify adolescents in comparison with a well-established reference population, and to estimate the proportion of adolescents with high or low adiposity amounts.

Sponsorship:

The AVENA-Study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health (FIS 00/0015), and grants from Panrico SA, Madaus SA and Procter and Gamble SA. This study was also supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain), RCESP (C03/09) and Spanish Ministry of Education (AP2003-2128).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Brook CGD (1971). Determination of body composition of children from skinfold measurements. Arch Dis Child 46, 182–184.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carrascosa A, Yeste D, Copil A, Gussinyé M (2004). Aceleración secular del crecimiento. Valores de peso, talla e índice de masa corporal en niños, adolescentes y adultos jóvenes de la población de Barcelona. Med Clin (Barcelona) 123, 445–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal M, Dietz WH (2000). Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ 320, 1240–1243.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cole TJ, Freeman JV, Preece MA (1998). British 1990 growth reference centiles for weight, height, body mass index and head circumference fitted by maximum penalized likelihood. Stat Med 17, 407–429.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Durnin JVGA, Rahaman MM (1967). The assessment of the amount of fat in the human body from measurements of skinfold thickness. Br J Nutr 21, 681–689.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • González-Gross M, Castillo MJ, Moreno LA, Nova E, González-Lamuño D, Pérez-Llamas F et al. (2003). Alimentación y valoración del estado nutricional de los adolescentes españoles (Estudio AVENA). Evaluación de riesgos y propuesta de intervención. I. Descripción metodológica del proyecto. Nutr Hosp 18, 15–28.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heber D, Ingles S, Ashley JM, Maxwell MH, Lyons RF, Elashoff RM (1996). Clinical detection of sarcopenic obesity by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 64, S472–S477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mast M, Sönnichsen A, Langnäse K, Labitzke K, Bruse U, Preub U et al. (2002). Inconsistencies in bioelectrical impedance and anthropometric measurements of fat mass in a field study of prepubertal children. Br J Nutr 87, 163–175.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maynard LM, Wisemandle W, Roche AF, Cameron W, Guo SS, Siervogel RM (2001). Childhood body composition in relation to body mass index. Pediatrics 107, 344–350.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno LA, Fleta J, Mur L, Feja C, Sarría A, Bueno M (1997). Indices of body fat distribution in Spanish children aged 4.0 to 14.9 years. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 25, 175–181.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno LA, Joyanes M, Mesana MI, González-Gross M, Gil CM, Sarría A et al. (2003). Harmonization of anthropometric measurements for a multicenter nutrition survey in Spanish adolescents. Nutrition 19, 481–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno LA, Mesana MI, Fleta J, Ruiz JR, González-Gross MM, Sarría A et al. (2005). Overweight, obesity and body fat composition in Spanish adolescents. The AVENA Study. Ann Nutr Metab 49, 71–76.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno LA, Rodríguez G, Guillén J, Rabanaque MJ, León JF, Ariño A (2002). Anthropometric measurements in both sides of the body in the assessment of nutritional status in prepubertal children. Eur J Clin Nutr 56, 1208–1215.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno LA, Sarría A, Fleta J, Rodríguez G, Bueno M (2000). Trends in body mass index and overweight prevalence among children and adolescents in the region of Aragón (Spain) from 1985 to 1995. Int J Obes 24, 925–931.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison JA, Barton BA, Obarzanek E, Crawford PB, Guo SS, Schreiber GB (2001). Racial differences in the sums of skinfolds and percentage of body fat estimated from impedance in black and white girls, 9 to 19 years of age: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study. Obes Res 9, 297–305.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller WH, Harrist RB, Doyle SR, Labarthe DR (2004). Percentiles of body composition from bioelectrical impedance and body measurements in U.S adolescents 8–17 years old: Project HeartBeat!. Am J Hum Biol 16, 135–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nova E, Samartin S, Gomez S, Morande G, Marcos A (2002). The adaptive response of the immune system to the particular malnutrition of eating disorders. Eur J Clin Nutr 56 (Suppl 3), S34–S37.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez G, Moreno LA, Blay MG, Blay VA, Garagorri JM, Sarría A et al. (2004). Body composition in adolescents: measurements and metabolic aspects. Int J Obes 28 (Suppl 3), S54–S58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez G, Moreno LA, Blay MG, Blay VA, Fleta J, Sarría A et al. (in press). Body fat measurement in adolescents: Comparison of skinfold thickness equations with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Eur J Clin Nutr.

  • Sardinha LB, Going SB, Teixeira PJ, Lohman TG (1999). Receiver operating characteristic analysis of body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness, and arm girth for obesity screening in children and adolescents. Am J Clin Nutr 70, 1090–1095.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Slaughter MH, Lohman TG, Boileau RA, Horswill CA, Stillman RJ, Van Loan MD et al. (1988). Skinfold equations for estimation of body fatness in children and youths. Hum Biol 60, 709–723.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor RW, Falorni A, Jones IE, Goulding A (2003). Identifying adolescents with high percentage body fat: a comparison of BMI cutoffs using age and stage of pubertal development compared with BMI cutoffs using age alone. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 764–769.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor RW, Jones IE, Williams SM, Goulding A (2002). Body fat percentages measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry corresponding to recently recommended body mass index cutoffs for overweight and obesity in children and adolescents aged 3–18 y. Am J Clin Nutr 76, 1416–1421.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y (2004). Epidemiology of childhood obesity – Methodological aspects and guidelines: What's new? Int J Obes 28 (Suppl), S21–S28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Monteiro C, Popkin BM (2002). Trends of obesity and underweight in older children and adolescents in the United States, Brazil, China, and Russia. Am J Clin Nutr 75, 971–977.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weststrate JA, Deurenberg P (1989). Body composition in children: proposal for a method for calculating body fat percentage from total body density or skinfold-thickness measurements. Am J Clin Nutr 50, 1104–1115.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wong WW, Stuff JE, Butte NF, O'Brian Smith E, Ellis KJ (2000). Estimating body fat in African American and white adolescent girls: a comparison of skinfold-thickness equations with a 4-compartment model. Am J Clin Nutr 72, 348–354.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The AVENA-Study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health (FIS 00/0015), and grants from Panrico SA, Madaus SA and Procter and Gamble SA This study was also supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain), RCESP (C03/09) and Spanish Ministry of Education (AP2003-2128).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Consortia

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L A Moreno.

Additional information

Guarantor: LA Moreno.

Contributor: LAM had a primary responsibility for study design, field work, data analysis and writing the manuscript. MIM, MG-G, CMG, JF, JW, and JRR, participated in the development of the protocol and analytic framework for the study, and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. AS, AM, and MB supervised the design and execution of the study and contributed to the writing of the manuscript.

Appendix

Appendix

Coordinator: A Marcos, Madrid.

Local coordinators: MJ Castillo, Granada. A Marcos, Madrid. S Zamora, Murcia. M García Fuentes, Santander. M Bueno, Zaragoza, Spain.

Granada: MJ Castillo, MD Cano, R Sola (Biochemistry); A Gutiérrez, JL Mesa, J Ruiz (Physical fitness); M Delgado, P Tercedor, P Chillón (Physical activity), M Martín, F Carreño, F Ortega, GV Rodríguez, R Castillo, F Arellano (Collaborators). Universidad de Granada. E-18071 Granada.

Madrid: A Marcos, M González-Gross, J Wärnberg, S Medina, F Sánchez Muniz, E Nova, A Montero, B de la Rosa, S Gómez, S Samartín, J Romeo, R Álvarez, (Coordination, immunology) A Álvarez (Cytometric analysis) L Barrios (Statistical analysis) A Leyva, B Payá (Psychological assessment). L Martínez, E Ramos, R Ortiz, A Urzanqui. (Collaborators). Instituto de Nutrición y Bromatología. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). E-28040 Madrid.

Murcia: S Zamora, M Garaulet, F Pérez-Llamas, JC Baraza, JF Marín, F Pérez de Heredia, MA Fernández, C González, R García, C Torralba, E Donat, E Morales, MD García, JA Martínez, JJ Hernández, A Asensio, FJ Plaza, MJ López (Diet analysis). Dpto. Fisiología. Universidad de Murcia. E-30100 Murcia.

Santander: M García Fuentes, D González-Lamuño, P de Rufino, R Pérez-Prieto, D Fernández, T Amigo (Genetic study). Dpto. Pediatría. Universidad de Cantabria. E- 19003 Santander.

Zaragoza: M Bueno, LA Moreno, A Sarriá, J Fleta, G Rodríguez, CM Gil, MI Mesana, JA Casajús, Vicente Blay, María Guadalupe Blay. (Anthropometric assessment). Escuela Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad de Zaragoza. E-50009 Zaragoza.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moreno, L., Mesana, M., González-Gross, M. et al. Anthropometric body fat composition reference values in Spanish adolescents. The AVENA Study. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 191–196 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602285

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602285

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links