TABLE 3.

Adjusted correlations between the risk factor summary and adiposity measures, stratified by sex, race, age, and study period¹

		Skinfold thickness
Risk factor and category	BMI	SF sum	Triceps	Subscapular
Overall (n = 6866)	0.50	0.472	0.442	0.472
Sex
Boys (n = 3434)	0.51	0.472	0.432	0.482
Girls (n = 3432)	0.49	0.473	0.442	0.474
Race
Whites (n = 4358)	0.53	0.514	0.472	0.502
Blacks (n = 2508)	0.44	0.412	0.392	0.412
Age
5–8 y (n = 1560)	0.54	0.513	0.492	0.492
9–11 y (n = 1666)	0.60	0.552	0.522	0.542
12–14 y (n = 1920)	0.49	0.452	0.402	0.464
15–17 y (n = 1729)	0.40	0.39	0.352	0.40
Examination year5
1981–1982 (n = 2814)	0.47	0.463	0.392	0.48
1983–1985 (n = 2703)	0.44	0.44	0.392	0.45
1987–1988 (n = 2570)	0.49	0.462	0.422	0.462
1992–1994 (n = 2502)	0.56	0.512	0.482	0.512
CDC BMI-for-age
<85th percentile (n = 4987)	0.24	0.223	0.172	0.23
≥85th percentile (n = 1879)	0.38	0.353	0.292	0.353

¹SF sum, sum of the triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Levels of the risk factor summary, BMI, and skinfold thicknesses were adjusted for sex, race, age, and study period. All correlation coefficients are significantly different from 0 (P < 0.001). P values were calculated by using the method proposed by Meng et al (23) for comparing correlated correlation coefficients and indicate whether the correlation between the risk factor summary and skinfold thickness is significantly different from the correlation between the risk factor summary and BMI.

²P < 0.001.

³P < 0.05.

⁴P < 0.01.

⁵The analyses are based on all 10,589 examinations. Each child was examined only once during a study.