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Table 4 Equations Estimating %BF from BMI, Age, and Gender

From: Association between stress fracture incidence and predicted body fat in United States Army Basic Combat Training recruits

Study

Criterion Method for BF Determination

Participants

Equation for % Body Fat Prediction

r2

SEE

Deurenberg et al. [28]

Underwater weighting

749 healthy M & W, 16–83 yr. in Netherlands

−5.4 + 1.20 BMI + 0.23 age - 10.8 sex

0.79

4.1

Gallagher et al. [29]

4 compartment models using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, doubly-labled water, & underwater weighting

706 M & W, 20–94 yr., BMI < 35 kg/m2, residing near NY city

−10.02 + 1.46 BMI + 0.12 age - 11.61 sex

0.67

5.7

Gallagher et al. [30]

4 compartment models using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, doubly-labled water, & underwater weighting

1626 M & W, 20–97 yr., convenience sample from UK, US, and Japan

64.5–848 (1/BMI) + 0.079 age-16.4 sex + 0.05 sex age + 39.0 sex (1/BMI)

0.74

5.0

Jackson et al. [31, 49, 50]

Underwater weighting

679 M & W, 18–61 yr., from 3 US locations

−13.9 + 1.61 BMI + 0.13 age - 12.1 sex

0.75

5.5

Pasco et al. 2012 [32]

Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry

1766 M & W, 20–74 yr., in Australia

37.8 + 1.62 (BMI-mean) -16.7 sex - 0.06 (BMI-mean)2 + 0.02 age - 0.17 sex (BMI-mean) + 0.03 gender (BMI-mean) + 0.04 sex age

0.83

4.1

Gomez-Ambrosi et al. 2012 [33]

Air displacement plethysmography

6123 Caucasians, 18–80 yr. in Spain

−44.988 + (0.503 age) + (10.689 sex) + (3.172 BMI) – (0.026 BMI2) + (0.181 BMI sex) – (0.02 BMI age) – (0.005 BMI2 sex) + (0.00021 BMI2 age)

0.79

4.7

Present Study

Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry

349 healthy men and women 18–35 yr., in US Army BCT

−7.53 + 1.43 BMI + 0.13 age - 14.73 sex

0.77

4.2

  1. In all models, BMI is in kg/m2, age in years, and in all models except Gomez Ambrosi, sex is 0 = women, 1 = men. For Gomez Ambrosi, sex is 0 = men, 1 = female
  2. Abbreviations: r2 explained variance (%), SEE standard error of the estimate (% body fat), US United States, UK United Kingdom, NY New York, BCT Basic Combat Training, M men, W women