Body fat and fat-free mass assessed by densitometric and anthropometric techniques in adult Indian women

Measurements of per cent body fat and lean body mass were made on 50 adult Indian women, 25 to 32 years old, and were correlated with a battery of 50 body measurements taken on the same subjects. Regression equations were developed for predicting per cent body fat and lean body mass from different combinations of body measurements. The best multiple regression equation, incorporating chin and chest skinfold thickness as well as cup-size, resulted in R = 0.922 for predicting per cent body fat. A combination of biacromial circumference, iliocristal height, knee diameter and chest skinfold thickness provided the best prediction of lean body mass (R = 0.923). The validity of these multiple regression equations was evaluated on three additional samples of Indian girls.