Relative merits of old and new indices of body mass with reference to skinfold thickness.

Correlation coefficients among the various commonly used indices of body mass and measures of skinfold thickness were calculated using 16,459 adult Black of white samples derived from the data sets of the US Health and Nutritional Examination Survey I of 1971 to 1974. Compared to weight and weight-height cube ratio, weight-height square ratio, and weight-heightp ratio exhibit the highest correlation with skinfold thickness. Furthermore, weight-height square ratio and weight-heightp ratio showed the same amount of correlation with skinfolds. Therefore, weight-heightp ratio is not the best indicator of adiposity. It is concluded that weight-height square ratio along with measures of subcutaneous fat such as skinfold thickness would provide adequate information about body size and body fatness. The applicability of weight-heightp is limited to studies concerned with interpopulation comparisons of body mass and where there are differences in height.