Washington, Oct 11: A new study has revealed that the best way to determine a child's body fat percentage, is with bioelectrical impedance analysis, a method that sends a harmless electrical current through the body.

The study, published in the [Journal of School Nursing], also found that using body mass index (BMI) and skin-fold measurements, the two most popular methods to measure the fat percentage, may not provide accurate results.


Using BMI measurements, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 2000 that 15 per cent of US children aged 6 to 11 were overweight. BMI measurements are the customary standard for determining whether or not a person has too much body fat.

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"But there are a number of children, who are at risk for becoming overweight that may not be included in the CDC estimate," said Theresa Skybo, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of nursing at the Ohio State University.

She and Nancy Ryan-Wenger, a professor of nursing at Ohio State, used BIA, BMI and skin-fold measurements to assess the body fat percentages of 58 third-grade children. The children attended two urban public schools, and nearly half of the children were African American.

When the researchers compared the results of the three methods, they found that one out of three children risked developing a weight problem.


But BIA measurements alone gave the most telling results: nine out of 10 girls in the study were either overweight or at risk for becoming overweight, as were nearly half of the boys.

A child is considered at risk for developing a weight problem if he falls between the 85th and 95th percentile for weight in his age category (height is also taken into consideration.)

BMI results indicated that about a third of the boys and two out of five girls in the study risked developing a weight problem. However, according to the BMI results, none of the children were truly overweight.

Results from the skin-fold test were similar -- about half of the boys were deemed at risk for developing a weight problem, as were a third of the girls.

Bureau Report