Simplified subcutaneous fat biopsy for nutritional surveys.

Use of a 3 mm skin-biopsy punch results in skin plus an additional core of subcutaneous fat which is adequate for gas chromatographic analysis of fatty acids. This technique is quicker, cheaper and less traumatic than other methods of fat biopsy and is recommended for population surveys of diet where the pattern of fat intake is being investigated. It has been used in a survey for cardiovascular risk factors on some 3 000 subjects and has proved to be safe and acceptable.