European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1998) 52, 779783

1998 Stockton Press. All rights reserved 09543007/98 $12.00

http://www.stockton-press.co.uk/ejcn

Relationship between body fat and body mass index: differences

between Indonesians and Dutch Caucasians
S Gurrici1, Y Hartriyanti1, JGAJ Hautvast2 and P Deurenberg2
1

School of Public Health, Gedung D Lt.II, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia; and 2Department of Human Nutrition and
Epidemiology, Wageningen Agricultural University, Bomenweg 2, 6703 HD Wageningen, The Netherlands

Objective: To study the relationship between percent body fat and body mass index (BMI) in two different
ethnic groups (Indonesians and Caucasians) in order to evaluate the validity of the BMI cut-off points for obesity.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Subjects: Not specially selected populations living in southern Sumatra (Palembang, Indonesia) and Caucasian
Dutch living in Wageningen.
Measurements: Body weight, body height, body fat by deuterium oxide dilution and skinfold thickness.
Results: Body fat could be well predicted by body mass index (BMI) and sex in the Indonesians and by BMI, sex
and age in the Dutch with a prediction error of 3.6 and 3.3% for the two populations respectively. Although the
body mass index in the Indonesian group was about 2 kg=m2 lower compared to the Dutch, the amount of body
fat was 3% points higher. Because of small differences between the groups in age, weight and height the
differences in body fat were corrected for this (ANOVA). Indonesians having the same weight, height, age and
sex have generally 4.8% points more body fat compared to Dutch. Indonesians having the same % BF, age and
sex have generally a 2.9 kg=m2 lower BMI compared to the Dutch.
Conclusions: The results show that the relationship between % BF and BMI is different between Indonesians
and Dutch Caucasians. If obesity is regarded as an excess of body fat and not as an excess of weight (increased
BMI), the cut-off points for obesity in Indonesia based on the BMI should be 27 kg=m2 instead of 30 kg=m2.
Sponsorship: This study was granted in part by DS Medigroup, Milan, Italy.
Descriptors: body fat; body mass index; body build; obesity; cut-off values; Indonesians; Dutch; Caucasians;
race; ethnicity

Introduction
The prevalence of obesity and the inherent complications as
increased mortality due to coronary heart disease is increasing in Indonesia (Soemantri & Siregar, 1997) and is
currently (1992) 16.6% of all mortality causes. In a recently
performed large epidemiological study in the 12 biggest
cities in Indonesia (Anonymous, 1997), the prevalence of
obesity, dened as body mass index (BMI, weight=height2,
kg=m2) > 27 kg=m2 was found to be 12.4% with a range of
9.8% in Semarang to 16.7% in Medan. If obesity is dened
using a cut off point of 30 kg=m2, the mean prevalence in
these 12 cities was 4.6%. Although these values are low
compared to values reported in western populations (for
example in England 15% Presscot Clarke & Primatesta,
1997, the Netherlands 8% (Seidell, 1997)) they are higher
compared to the Indonesian prevalence a few years ago
(Soemantri & Siregar, 1997). Data from the Indonesian
National Institute of Statistics, Bappenas, indicate that
mortality due to coronary heart disease is annually increasing by one percent point (Central Bureau of Statistics,
1997). The problem is not limited to Indonesia itself. It is
generally recognized that due to a very fast (nutritional)
transition incidence and prevalence gures for `western'
diseases are increasing in less developed countries (Drewnowski & Popkin, 1997).
Correspondence: Dr P Deurenberg.
Received 3 March 1998; revised 28 May 1998; accepted 8 June 1998

In epidemiological studies under- and overweight=obesity is dened on the basis of the BMI. Based on (Garrow,
1981) the WHO suggests cut off values for overweight
and obesity of > 25 kg=m2 and > 30 kg=m2 respectively
(WHO, 1995, 1997). It is recognized by the WHO that
these cut-off values might be slightly different for different populations (WHO, 1995, 1997). There is an increasing number of publications showing that the relationship
between %BF and BMI is different among populations
(Norgan, 1994a). Wang et al, 1994 showed that `Asians'
have a higher %BF but lower BMI compared to Caucasians, which could not be conrmed in a Beijing Chinese
population (Deurenberg et al, 1997). Gallagher et al, 1996
showed that there was no difference in the %BF and BMI
relationship between whites and blacks living in New
York, but Luke et al, 1997 showed that the same relationship is different between black population samples in
Nigeria, Jamaica and the United States. Swinburn reported
a relatively low body fat at any given body size in
Polynesians compared to Caucasians (Swinburn et al,
1996). In a body composition in Jakarta (Kupper et al,
1998) it was found that %BF, predicted from BMI, age
and sex using a `Dutch' prediction formula, largely under
predicts %BF measured by a three compartment model
based on densitometry and deuterium oxide dilution (Siri,
1961; Bergsma-Kadijk et al, 1996). As only young subjects volunteered in that study and the number of subjects
was small, a larger scale study was performed in a less
selected population.

Relationship between body fat and BMI

S Gurrici et al

780

The aim of this present study is to test whether the

relationship between %BF and BMI is different in Indonesians compared to Dutch Caucasians. For that reason data
of a Dutch group were matched with the Indonesian data
and comparative analyses were performed.
Subjects and methods
The Indonesian subjects were employees of the Provincial
Health Department of South Sumatra, Palembang and
students of the Nutrition Academy (GIZI) in Palembang,
Sumatra, Indonesia. An announcement was made to the
employees and students a few days before the measurements and volunteers were invited to come in the fasting
state to the Provincial Health Department where all measurements were taken in the morning hours.
Body weight was measured without shoes and without
heavy clothing to the nearest 0.5 kg. To correct for clothing
1 kg was subtracted from the readings of all subjects. Body
height (without shoes) was measured to the nearest 0.5 cm
with a wall mounted stadiometer. BMI (weight=height2,
kg=m2) was calculated. Also sitting height was measured
and relative sitting height was calculated as sitting height=
standing height. Skinfold thickness was measured at four
sites (biceps, triceps, subscapular, supra-iliac) on the left
side of the body and %BF was calculated according to
Durnin & Womersley (1974).
After the anthropometric measurements had been taken
the subjects drank an accurately weighed dose of about 10 g
deuterium oxide. After 212 3 hours a venous blood sample
was drawn and plasma was separated and stored at minus
10 C until analyses. Deuterium in plasma was analyzed by
infrared spectroscopy after sublimation of the plasma
(Lukaski & Johnson, 1985). Chemical analyses were done
at the laboratory of the department of Human Nutrition and
Epidemiology of the Wageningen Agricultural University.
Total body water (TBW) was calculated from the given
dose and the deuterium concentration in plasma, after
correcting for 5% non aqueous dilution of deuterium
(Forbes, 1987). Fat free mass (FFM) was assessed from
TBW assuming 0.726% hydration (Forbes, 1987). Percent
body fat (%BF) was calculated as 100 6 (weight 7
FFM)=weight. Fat free mass index (FFMI, kg=m2) and fat
mass index (FMI, kg=m2) were calculated from weight and
%BF (Van Itallie et al, 1990).
Percent body fat was predicted with age- and sexspecic prediction formulas using a formula developed
in a Dutch population and cross-validated in several

population groups (Deurenberg et al, 1991, 1997). Data

of the Indonesian subjects were combined with data of
Dutch subjects, measured in several previous studies, using
the same methodologies and standardized techniques. The
Dutch subjects were selected from a data set of 400 subjects
in a way that there were no differences in age and %BF
between the groups within each gender and that they were
not specially performed in sports or strenuous physical
activities. Because of differences in body height between
the groups it was decided not to match on BMI. No data on
skinfold thickness and sitting height were available for all
Dutch subjects selected for this purpose.
Data were analyzed using SPSS (release 7.0) for Windows (SPSS, 1995). Differences between variables in the
same subjects were tested by Student's paired t-test. Differences between groups were tested by analysis of (co)variance, using the GLM procedure. Stepwise multiple
linear regression was used with gender and ethnic group
coded as dummy variable (females 0, males 1;
Palembang 0, Wageningen 1). Differences were
regarded as statistical signicant if P < 0.05 (two sided,
where appropriate). Values are given as mean  s.d., unless
otherwise indicated.
Results
In total 130 subjects were measured in Palembang, of
which 120 could be supplied with deuterium oxide. In 10
subjects there were difculties with blood sampling and=or
with the analyses of the blood samples and the data of only
110 subjects could be used in statistical analyses. All
subjects were apparently healthy and ranged in age from
22 55 y, in BMI from 15.8 36.6 kg=m2, in height from
1.37 1.78 m and in weight from 36.0 91.8 kg. The Dutch
group consisted of 106 males and females of the same age
and %BF. Some characteristics of the two groups are given
in Table 1. BMI was higher in the Dutch subjects, but the
difference was only statistically signicant in males.
In Table 2 the coefcients for the stepwise multiple
regression between %BF as dependent variable and BMI,
age and sex as independent variables are given, for the
Palembang group, for the Wageningen group and for the
two groups combined. The relationship between body fat
and BMI is quite different in the two groups. Combining
the data and adding group as a dummy variable resulted in
a signicant contribution of the group variable (difference
in %BF at same level of BMI, age and sex is 4.7%). After
`group' was entered in the regression model, the inclusion

Table 1 Characteristics of the subjects (mean, s.d.)

Palembang
Males (59)
mean
Age (y)
Weight (kg)
Height (m)
BMI (kg=m2)
Fat mass (kg)
Fat free mass (kg)
Percent body fat

41
65.4a,b
1.64a,b
24.3a
18.9a
46.5a,b
28.3b

Wageningen
Females (51)

s.d.
7
10.3
0.06
3.3
6.3
5.5
6.2

mean
35
52.7a
1.53a
22.7
19.6a
33.1
36.0

Males (64)

s.d.
9
11.1
0.05
4.7
7.5
4.1
6.4

mean
40
85.0b
1.80b
26.2b
23.2
61.8b
26.5b

BMI: body mass index; percent body fat estimated from deuterium dilution.
P < 0.01 between Palembang and Wageningen within the same gender group.
b
P < 0.01 between genders within the same group.
a

Females (42)

s.d.

mean

s.d.

8
12.8
0.07
3.6
9.3
6.0
7.6

34
68.0
1.67
24.4
23.6
44.4
33.2

8
12.6
0.05
4.9
10.8
3.6
9.2

Relationship between body fat and BMI

S Gurrici et al

781
Table 2 Stepwise multiple regression with body fat as dependent
variable in the two separate populations and in the combined groups
Regression
coefcients
Palembang
Wageningen
Combined

BMI

Sex

Age

Group

Intercept

R2

SEE

1.056
1.305
1.561
1.798
1.688
1.175
1.425
1.559
1.455

7 9.8

7 10.0
7 10.4

7 10.0
7 9.9
7 10.3

0.103

0.097

7 5.1
7 4.7

7.0
6.4
7 10.7
7 10.6
7 11.5
1.7
1.3
0.4
7 0.6

0.34
0.76
0.56
0.85
0.86
0.37
0.72
0.81
0.82

6.0
3.6
5.9
3.4
3.3
6.5
4.4
3.6
3.5

All regression coefcients signicant (P < 0.05).

of the interaction factors BMI 6 group and age 6 sex

resulted in a small increase in explained variance of one
percent, showing that the slope of the BF% vs BMI
relationship is slightly different between the groups and
that the inuence of age is slightly different for males and
females. The contribution to the total explained variance is
too small (0.02) to be of practical importance. When the
`Indonesian' prediction formula was applied to the Dutch
group predicted %BF (males and females combined) was as
high as 33.7  6.6%, whereas assessed %BF was only
29.1  8.8% (P < 0.001). Application of the `Dutch' formula to the Indonesian group resulted in an underestimation of %BF (26.6  8.0% compared to 31.8  7.4%,
P < 0.001).
Figure 1 shows a plot of the assessed minus predicted
%BF (using the formula developed from the data of the
combined group) against %BF from deuterium oxide. The
prediction formula tends to overestimate at lower levels and
to under predict at higher levels of %BF. Because of the
differences between the two ethnic groups, %BF was
corrected for differences in weight, height, age and sex
by analysis of covariance. After this correction %BF in the
Palembang group was 4.8  0.5 (s.e.m.) percent higher
compared to the Wageningen group. If BMI was corrected
for differences in %BF, age and sex, the BMI was 2.9  0.3
(s.e.m.) kg=m2 units lower in the Palembang group. These
analyses indicate that the Palembang subjects have 4.8%
more body fat at the same weight, height age and sex and
that at a same level of body fatness they have a 2.9 kg=m2

Figure 1 Individual differences between assessed and predicted body fat

from body mass index.

Figure 2 Predicted body fat corrected for age in relation to body mass
index in the two groups of males and females.
Table 3 Differences between fat mass index and fat free mass index
between the studied groups
Palembang
Males (59)

BMI
FFMI
FMI

Wageningen

Females (51)

Males (64)

Females (42)

mean

s.d.

mean

s.d.

mean

s.d.

mean

s.d.

24.3
17.3
7.0

3.3
1.6
2.3

22.7
14.3
8.4

4.7
1.6
3.2

26.2
19.0
7.2

3.6
1.2
2.9

24.4
15.9
8.5

4.9
1.2
4.1

BMI: body mass index (weight=height2), kg=m2), FFMI: fat free mass
index (fat free mass=height2), kg=m2), FMI: fat mass index (fat
mass=height2), kg=m2).

lower BMI. In Figure 2 the differences in the relationship

between %BF and BMI between the two different ethnic
groups are shown for males and females separately.
In Table 3 the BMI is split into the fat mass index (FMI)
and the fat free mass index (FFMI). It can be seen that the
Palembang population has a relatively lower FFMI compared to the Dutch population, indicating that their fat free
mass, also after correcting for height is lower.
Discussion
The presented data of the Palembang population and the
Wageningen population can not be regarded as representative for the Indonesian and the Dutch population respectively. The two study groups are difcult to compare with
relation to socio-economic class, because of the different
states of development in both countries. Comparing the
mean values of body weight and body height of the
Palembang males and females showed that weight in the
present group was about 8 kg higher than the average value
of the 12-city study (Anonymous, 1991) in males of the
same age, but was not different in females. The relatively
high socio-economic class of the studied group could
explain the difference in weight in males as the prevalence
of obesity is positively related to socio-economic class in
Indonesia (Presscot Clarke & Primatesta 1997). In the 12city study no fat measurements were included, but it is
likely that the higher mean weight is due to body fat. Body
height did not differ compared to the mean values as
observed in the 12-city study. The weight for the Wageningen group is about 3 and 5 kg higher respectively compared

Relationship between body fat and BMI

S Gurrici et al

782

to the mean values of the Dutch male and female population of that age in 1996 and body height equals the mean
values in both males and females (Central Bureau of
Statistics, 1996). This information does, however, provide
no information about the actual level of body fatness in the
two populations.
From Table 2 it is obvious that the relationship between
body fat and BMI is different between the two studied
groups. This is also shown by the fact that the prediction
formula developed in the Indonesian group overestimated
%BF in the Dutch group by 4.6  3.9% points whereas the
prediction formula developed in the Dutch group underestimated %BF in the Indonesian group with 5.2  4.0%
point. Analysis of co-variance showed that for the same
BMI, age and sex, the Indonesians have higher %BF. Also
the increase in %BF per unit BMI is higher in the
Indonesians compared to the Dutch (regression coefcient
in Table 2). The underestimation of %BF from BMI
formulas seems to hold generally for `Caucasian' prediction formulas as see for example (Womersley & Durnin,
1997; Deurenberg et al, 1997), and (Gallagher et al, 1996,
Caucasian formula) equations all show a remarkable underestimation in the Indonesians, varying from 5 9% BF.
These results conrm the results of a study in young
Indonesian students in Jakarta (Kupper et al, 1998) in
which body fat was measured using a three compartment
model (Siri, 1961), as well as the results from a recent study
in Bangkok (Stevens, 1997) in young to middle aged
women where DXA was used as a reference method.
Different relationships between body fat and BMI are
reported earlier in the literature (Wang et al, 1994; Swinburn et al, 1996; Luke et al, 1997). Recently Norgan, 1994
discussed this topic in an overview. It could be argued that
the different relationship as found in the present study is
due to erroneous assumptions in the method of reference
(deuterium oxide dilution and calculation of the fat free
mass assuming a constant hydration of 0.726%). It can be
calculated, however, that a hydration of the fat free mass as
low as 70% would still result in a higher assessed body fat
compared to predicted from BMI using `Caucasian' prediction formulas. Apart, there are no indications that the
level of hydration in the fat free mass is lower in Indonesians as a recent study showed that there are no differences
in body fat from densitometry and deuterium oxide dilution
(Kupper et al, 1998) and the ratio of extra cellular water to
total body water is not lower compared to Dutch subjects
(Bartz, 1998).
The reason for the different relationship between body
fat and BMI could be differences in muscularity as pointed
out by Luke et al, (1997). BMI is an index of weight
corrected for height, and as such it does not provide any
information about the actual body composition in terms of
fat and fat free mass. It could be that the studied Dutch
population was more muscular compared to the Indonesian
population, but the Dutch subjects were, like the Indonesians, not specially selected and they were not involved in
sports or other strenuous physical activities. The differences could also be due to differences in body build.
Norgan pointed out that differences in relative leg length
could be partly responsible for differences in BMI and thus
in differences in the relationship between %BF and BMI
(Norgan, 1994a; 1994b). The relative sitting height of the
Indonesians (0.52  0.01) was however comparable to the
relative sitting height as found in a Dutch study in 40 60 y
old subjects (0.53  0.01, results not published). Apart from

relative sitting height (or leg length) also differences in

frame size could contribute to the different relationship
between body fat and BMI, subjects with a smaller frame
size having less bone mass and eventually also less muscle
mass and connective tissue. Unfortunately no data on frame
size are available for the two groups.
Whatever the reasons for the different %BF=BMI relationship may be, it might have big consequences for public
health policies. As it is likely that not BMI, but %BF is a
more potent risk factor for CVD and increased mortality
rates (WHO, 1997), the ultimate consequence of the ndings in this study is, that cut-off points for obesity
(30 kg=m2) as proposed by WHO (1995, 1997) may have
to be re-dened in some populations. From the data of this
study it could be concluded that the cut-off point for
obesity should be 2.9 units lower in Indonesians compared
to the Dutch.
In Indonesia a cut off point for obesity of 27 kg=m2 is
already used because of statistical reasons (Anonymous
1997). Although it can not yet be regarded as proven from
this study that the choice for this lower cut-off is correct,
there is at least some evidence that a cut off point of
30 kg=m2 might be too high in some Indonesians population groups. From a study of Rose, (1991) it can be
concluded that a lowering of the cut off value for obesity
from 30 27 kg=m2 would result in an increase in the
prevalence of obesity in the population of about 10 15%
points. This is conrmed from the data of the 12-city study
(Anonymous, 1997) where indeed only 4.6% of the study
population had a BMI over 30 kg=m2, but as much as
12.4% of the population a BMI over 27 kg=m2.

Conclusions
The relationship between %BF and BMI in a non selected
population in Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia was found to
be different compared to an age and body fat matched
Dutch (Caucasian) population. At the same level of body
fat, and corrected for age and sex, the Indonesian subjects
had a nearly 3 units lower BMI. The consequence of this
nding is that the cut-off value for obesity in (at least part
of) the Indonesian population might be lower compared to
the Caucasian (Dutch) population and should be 27 kg=m2
instead of the WHO recommendation of 30 kg=m2.
Acknowledgements The cooperation of the subjects is greatly appreciated. We are thankful to Mr Frans JM Schouten for the performance of
the laboratory analyses.

References
Anonymous (1997): Prevalance of Obesity in 12 Big Cities in Indonesia.
Report Universitas Indonesia, Fakultas Kesehatan Masyarakat, Depok
Indonesia.
Bartz M, Kupper J, Schultink W, Lutiko W & Deurenberg P (1998):
Validation of predicted total body water and extra cellular water by
multi-frequency impedance in young Indonesian adults. Ann. Nutr.
Metab. 42, 119 126.
Bergsma-Kadijk JA, Baumeister B & Deurenberg P (1996): Measurement
of body fat in young and elderly women: comparison between a fourcompartment model and widely used reference methods. Br. J. Nutr. 75,
649 657.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1997), Jakarta: Personal communication.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1996), The Hague: Statistisch Jaarboek.
Deurenberg P, Weststrate JA & Seidell JC (1991): Body mass index as a
measure of body fatness: age and sex specic prediction formulas. Br. J.
Nutr. (1991) 65, 105 114.

Relationship between body fat and BMI

S Gurrici et al

Deurenberg P, Ge K, Hautvast JGAJ & Wang J (1997): Body mass index

as predictor for body fat: comparison between Chinese and Dutch adult
subjects. Asia Pacic J. Clin. Nutr. 6, 102 105.
Drewnowski A & Popkin BM (1997): The nutrition transition: New trends
in the global diet. Nutr. Rev. 55, 31 43.
Durnin JVGA & Womersley J (1974): Body fat assessed from total body
density and its estimation from skinfold thickness: measurements on
481 men and women aged from 17 to 72 years. Br. J. Nutr. 32, 77 97.
Forbes GB (1987): Human Body Composition. New York: Springer Verlag.
Gallagher D, Visser M, Sepulveda D, Pierson RN, Harris T & Heymseld
SB (1996): How useful is body mass index for comparison of body
fatness across age, sex and ethnic groups. Am. J. Epidemiol. 143,
228 239.
Garrow JS (1981): Treat Obesity SeriouslyA Clinical Manual. London:
Churchill Livingstone.
Kupper J, Bartz M, Schultink JWE, Lutiko W & Deurenberg P (1998):
Measurements of body fat in Indonesian adults: comparison between a
three compartment model and widely used methods. Asia Pacic J.
Clin. Nutr. 7, 49 54.
Lukaski HC & Johnson PE (1985): A simple, inexpensive method of
determining total body water using a tracer dose of D2O and infrared
absorption of biological uids. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 41, 363 370.
Luke A, Durazo-Arvizzu R, Rotimi C, Prewitt E, Forrester T, Wilks R,
Ogunbiyi OL, Schoeller DA, McGee D & Cooper RS (1997): Relation
between body mass index and body fat in black population samples
from Nigeria, Jamaica and the United States. Am. J. Epidemiol. 145,
620 628.
Norgan NG (1994a): Population differences in body composition in
relation to body mass index. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 48, suppl. 3, S10 S27.
Norgan NG (1994b): Interpretation of low body mass indices: Australian
Aborigines. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 94, 229 237.
Presscot Clarke P & Primatesta P (1997): Health Survey for England 1995.
Department of health. London: HMSO.
Rose G (1991): Population differences of risk and disease. Nutr. Metab.
Cardiovasc. Dis. 1, 37 40.

Seidell JC (1997): Time trends in Obesity: an epidemiological perspective.

Horm. Metab. Res. 29, 155 159.
Soemantri S & Siregar Kn (1997): Transition Towards Degenerative
Diseases in Indonesia. Ministry of Health: National Household Health
Survey, national Institute of Health Research and Development, Jakarta.
Siri WE (1961): Body composition from uid spaces and density: analysis
of methods. In Techniques for Measuring Body Composition eds. J
Brozek & A Henschel, 223 244. Washington DC: National Academy
of Science.
SPSS=Windows (1995): V 7.0 Manuals. Chicago: SPSS.
Stevens NHC (1997): The correlation and prediction of body composition
from dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and anthropometric measurements in Thai women aged 30 to 39 years. Thesis Mahidol University,
Bangkok, Thailand.
Swinburn BA, Craig PL, Daniel R, Dent DPD & Strauss BJG (1996): Body
composition differences between Polynesians and Caucasians assessed
by bioelectrical impedance. Int. J. Obes. 20, 889 894.
Van Itallie TB, Yang M-U, Heymseld SB, Funk RC & Boilaeu RA
(1990): Height normalized indices of the body's fat free mass and fat
mass: potentially useful indicators of nutritional status. Am. J. Clin.
Nutr. 52, 953 959.
Wang J, Thornton JC, Russell M, Burastero S, Heymseld SB & Pierson
RN (1994): Asians have lower body mass index (BMI) but higher
percent body fat than do whites: comparisons of anthropometric
measurements. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 60, 23 28.
WHO (1995): Physical Status: The use and interpretation of anthropometry, WHO, Technical report Series 854, Geneva.
WHO (1997): Obesity, preventing and managing the global epidemic.
Report of a WHO Consultation on Obesity, Geneva, 3 5 June.
WHO=NUT=NCD=98.1 World Health Organization, Geneva.
Womersley J & Durnin JVGA (1977): A comparison of the skinfold
method with extent of overweight and various weight-height relationships in the assessment of obesity. Br. J. Nutr. 38, 271 284.

783