Abstract
Skinfold standards provide a useful indication of subcutaneous fat. To evaluate skinfold thickness of 252 Cambridge infants over the first 2 years of age, SD scores relative to the Tanner standards were calculated, taking account of skewness in the standards. Cambridge SD scores were low, varying according to age from −1.2 to −1.8 for triceps and −0.6 to −1.2 for subscapular skinfolds. The Tanner skinfold standards were last revised 30 years ago, at a time of high prevalence of infantile obesity, and the present and other studies indicate that infants are now thinner. There is a need for new skinfold standards to reflect this change. Since the Cambridge infants contributed to the recent British height and weight references, it is suggested that their skinfold measurements could also serve as reference points.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (96.5 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Chinn S., Rona R. J. Trends in weight-for-height and triceps skinfold thickness for English and Scottish children, 1972-1982 and 1982-1990. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1994 Jan;8(1):90–106. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3016.1994.tb00438.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cole T. J., Green P. J. Smoothing reference centile curves: the LMS method and penalized likelihood. Stat Med. 1992 Jul;11(10):1305–1319. doi: 10.1002/sim.4780111005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Davies P. S., Day J. M., Cole T. J. Converting Tanner-Whitehouse reference tricep and subscapular skinfold measurements to standard deviation scores. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1993 Aug;47(8):559–566. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Davies P. S., Lucas A. The prediction of total body fatness in early infancy. Early Hum Dev. 1990 Mar;21(3):193–198. doi: 10.1016/0378-3782(90)90118-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dewey K. G., Heinig M. J., Nommsen L. A., Peerson J. M., Lönnerdal B. Breast-fed infants are leaner than formula-fed infants at 1 y of age: the DARLING study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1993 Feb;57(2):140–145. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/57.2.140. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Freeman J. V., Cole T. J., Chinn S., Jones P. R., White E. M., Preece M. A. Cross sectional stature and weight reference curves for the UK, 1990. Arch Dis Child. 1995 Jul;73(1):17–24. doi: 10.1136/adc.73.1.17. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hutchinson-Smith B. Skinfold thickness in infancy in relation to birthweight. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1973 Oct;15(5):628–634. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1973.tb05173.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Leung S., Davies D. P. Infant feeding and growth of Chinese infants: birth to 2 years. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1994 Jul;8(3):301–313. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3016.1994.tb00463.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rona R. J., Altman D. G. National study of health and growth: standards of attained height, weight and triceps skinfold in English children 5 to 11 years old. Ann Hum Biol. 1977 Nov;4(6):501–523. doi: 10.1080/03014467700002511. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Saarinen U. M., Siimes M. A. Role of prolonged breast feeding in infant growth. Acta Paediatr Scand. 1979 Mar;68(2):245–250. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1979.tb04996.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Salmenperä L., Perheentupa J., Siimes M. A. Exclusively breast-fed healthy infants grow slower than reference infants. Pediatr Res. 1985 Mar;19(3):307–312. doi: 10.1203/00006450-198503000-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sann L., Durand M., Picard J., Lasne Y., Bethenod M. Arm fat and muscle areas in infancy. Arch Dis Child. 1988 Mar;63(3):256–260. doi: 10.1136/adc.63.3.256. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shukla A., Forsyth H. A., Anderson C. M., Marwah S. M. Infantile overnutrition in the first year of life: a field study in Dudley, Worcestershire. Br Med J. 1972 Dec 2;4(5839):507–515. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5839.507. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- TANNER J. M., WHITEHOUSE R. H. Standards for subcutaneous fat in British children. Percentiles for thickness of skinfolds over triceps and below scapula. Br Med J. 1962 Feb 17;1(5276):446–450. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5276.446. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taitz L. S. Infantile overnutrition among artificially fed infants in the Sheffield region. Br Med J. 1971 Feb 6;1(5744):315–316. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5744.315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tanner J. M., Whitehouse R. H. Revised standards for triceps and subscapular skinfolds in British children. Arch Dis Child. 1975 Feb;50(2):142–145. doi: 10.1136/adc.50.2.142. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Warrington S., Storey D. M. Comparative studies on Asian and Caucasian children. 1: Growth. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1988 Jan;42(1):61–67. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Whitehead R. G., Paul A. A. Growth charts and the assessment of infant feeding practices in the western world and in developing countries. Early Hum Dev. 1984 Apr;9(3):187–207. doi: 10.1016/0378-3782(84)90031-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Whitelaw A. Infant feeding and subcutaneous fat at birth and at one year. Lancet. 1977 Nov 26;2(8048):1098–1099. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)90545-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- de Bruin N. C., van Velthoven K. A., de Ridder M., Stijnen T., Juttmann R. E., Degenhart H. J., Visser H. K. Standards for total body fat and fat-free mass in infants. Arch Dis Child. 1996 May;74(5):386–399. doi: 10.1136/adc.74.5.386. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]