Body composition of rural and urban children from the central region of Spain.

Body composition components are considered in a cross-sectional sample of 2564 children (age range 6-14 years) from Central Spain. The sample was divided depending on rural or urban residence. Weight, and skinfold at the triceps, biceps, subscapular and suprailiac site were measured. Body composition was represented by percentage fat (%F), lean body mass (LBM), fat mass (FM) and sum of skinfolds (SSK). Sex differences were found to be highly significant for all variables and rural-urban differences were small. Rural boys show slightly larger fat content, in %F, FM and SSK, than their urban peers, but significant (p < 0.05) differences appear only for SSK. No statistically significant environmental effect was found for LBM. The improvement of living conditions, the urban influence on the rural area and the degree of urbanization of the urban settlement are suggested as the main determinants influencing obtained results.