SKINFOLD THICKNESSES - IS THERE A NEED TO BE VERY PRECISE IN THEIR LOCATION

Skinfold thicknesses represent a comparatively simple and reasonably a ccurate assessment of body fatness which is an important part of the e stimation of nutritional state. However, much emphasis is placed on th e necessity to be very precise in the exact position of the skinfold b eing measured and there is frequently concern, also, about the variabi lity of the measurement by different observers using different types o f caliper. Fifty-three women and forty-five men had four skinfolds (bi ceps, triceps, supra-iliac and subscapular) measured first at the stan dard sites (Tanner, 1953; Edwards et al, 1955), and then at deliberate ly chosen sites about 20 mm distant from the 'correct' ones. The effec t on the estimation of body fatness by this manoeuvre resulted in a di fference of usually less then 1 % and, at a maximum, 3 %. In the light of the uncertainty of the basic assumptions which are made in extrapo lating from skinfolds (or indeed densitometry, total body water, total body K, and others) to body fatness, these technical errors assume co mparatively little importance.