Frisancho

New standards of weight and body composition by frame size and height for assessment of nutritional status of adults and the elderly13
A Roberto Frisancho, PhD

ABSTRACT The study includes measurements of height, weight, triceps skinfold, subscapular skinfold, upper arm circumference, and elbow breadth of a cross-sectional multiracial sample of 21,752 subjects aged 25 to 74 yr derived from thedata sets of the first and second National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES I and NHANES II). Based on these data, percentiles of weight, skinfolds, and bone-free upper arm muscle area by height, sex, and frame size were established for all races combined in two groups: adults aged 25 to 54 yr and the elderly aged 55 to 74 yr. These new standards can be used to differentiate thosewho are at risk of being obese and undernourished. It is recommended that assessment of anthropometric nutritional status and health status of contemporary adult and elderly populations be made with reference to the present standards in conjunction with age correction factors.Am J C/in Nuir 1 984;40:808-8 19. KEY WORDS cle, frame size, Anthropometry, elderly nutritional status,weight, bodycomposition, skinfold, mus-

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adults,

present publication is to present the percentile distribution of weight, triceps skinfold, Anthropometric measurements have be-subscapular skinfold, and bone-free upper come an indispensable approach for the arm muscle area associated with each cateof frame size and height for adults evaluationof nutritional status of children gory ranging in age from 25 to 74 yr. These values and adults. Several sets of anthropometric developed from data collected by the reference values have been published (1-3). were Health and Nutrition ExamiThese standards usually give the percentile first National nation Survey (NHANES I) of 1971 to 1974 distribution of either weight or measureNational Health andNutriments of body composition such as skinfold and the second Examination Survey (NHANES II) of thickness and upper arm muscle area by age,tion 1976 to 1980. sex, and height (1-3). However, since weight Introduction and age, body composition vary not only with and methods sex, and height but are also influenced Materials by factors such as frame size, an appropriate Sample evaluation of individualvariability in an- This study is based on a cross-sectional sample of thropometric nutritional status should in21,752 subjects aged 25 to 74 yr, of whom 9,382 were clude measurements of frame size. In a preFrom the Center for Human Growth and Develvious publication we have shown that elbow opment and Department of Anthropology, University breadth is less affected by degree of adiposity ofMichigan, Ann Arbor, MI. than other anthropometric dimensions, and 2Supported in part by grants from the Weight because it measures skeletal breadth, it canWatchers Foundation and from Ross Laboratories. reprint requests to: Dr A Roberto Frisanbe used as an indicator of frame size (4). 3Address cho, Center for Human Growth and Development, 300 Therefore, based on sex- and race-specific North Ingalls,University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI percentiles of elbow breadth, three categories 48109. of frame size can be established: small, me- Received April 10, 1984. for publication May 24, 1984. dium, and large. Hence, the purpose of the Accepted
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 40: OCTOBER © 1984 American Society for Clinical Nutrition 1984, pp. 808-8 19. Printed in USA 808

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males and 12,370 were females, derived from NHANES so there is no seasonal variation in the weight of the clothing (2). I and the NHANES II. NHANES I was conducted by breadth. The examinee stood with feet tothe National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) ac- Elbow in the standard erect position, and the right arm cording to a multistage,...