Total Body Mass Estimation from Anthropometric Measurements in Modern Young Adult US Populations with Healthy Body Fat Percentages (NHANES III)

This study presents a method by which to estimate total body mass in modern young adult U.S. populations who self-identified as non-Hispanic U.S. White, non-Hispanic U. S. Black, and Mexican American with anthropometric measurements from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) 1988-1994 dataset (N = 2532). Correlations of stature and bi-iliac breadth with total body mass were stronger among males (r = 0.717-0.774) than among females (r = 0.549-0.661), yet these results were more accurate assessments of total body mass than existing techniques. This study also examined additional anthropometric measurements to estimate total body mass using an information-theoretic approach demonstrating that some error in the stature-bi-iliac breadth method is attributed to a nonsupported model with multimodel inference. The limitations of the current total body mass technique are discussed as well as the need for future studies to validate the method.