Research PaperPercentage of body fat in adolescents with Down syndrome: Estimation from skinfolds
Section snippets
Participants
A total of 23 adolescents (7 girls/16 boys) with DS living at home and aged 12–18 years old were recruited from three different schools and institutions in Aragón (Spain). Before the start of the study institutions were contacted to deliver a briefing session with parents and offering the opportunity to participate in the study. Both parents and adolescents were informed concerning the aims and procedures of the study, as well as the possible risks and benefits derived. An informed consent was
Results
The physical characteristics of the study group are shown in Table 1. Absolute and relative TEMs for each skinfold are shown in Table 2. Relative TEMs were lower than 2% for all skinfolds (1.6% the highest).
Relationships between anthropometric variables and BF% by ADP are shown in Table 3; all of the skinfold showed mid-to-strong positive correlations with BF% (r from 0.55 to 0.75; all p < 0.05); while BMI, and hip, waist and thigh circumferences correlated with BF% (r 0.56, 0.63, 0.6 and 0.62
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to develop a prediction equation for estimating BF% in adolescents with DS. The accuracy of the proposed equation was comparable to with ADP measurements (r > 0.89) and with a standard error of the estimate around 2 points.
A previous study carried out in our laboratory18 revealed that the equation of Slaughter et al was the most appropriate fit to the unique morphology and physical characteristics of children and adolescents with DS. Despite this, the equation of
Conclusion
In conclusion, for the assessment of BF% in adolescents with DS the use of the proposed equation is recommended as is the only one specifically developed and validated in this population taking into account their unique morphological characteristics.
Acknowledgment
The authors want to thank all the children and their parents that participated in the study for their understanding and dedication to the project. Special thanks are given to Fundación Down Zaragoza and Special Olympics Aragon for their support. We would like to thank Scott G. Mitchell from the Institute of Material Science in Aragon (ICMA-CSIC) for his help in proofreading and improving English grammar and syntax of the manuscript.
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There are no conflicts of interest or financial disclosures for any author of this manuscript. None of the authors have any financial interest.
This work was supported by Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Project DEP 2009-09183). AML received a Grant AP12/02854 from ‘Ministerio de Educación,Cultura y Deportes’.
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These authors were equally contributed to this article.