Anthropologiai Közlemények 25. (1981)
1981 / 1-2. füzet - Eredeti közlemények - Amador, M. - Gonzalez, M.E. - Hermelo, M.: Energy/Protein Index: Its usefulness in assessing obesity
EREDETI KÖZLEMÉNYEK Anthrop. Közi. 25. 3 — 16. 1981. ENERGY/PROTEIN INDEX: ITS USEFULNESS IN ASSESSING ORESITY by M. Amador, M. E. Gonzalez and M. Hermelo (Higher Institute of Medical Sciences of Havana, Havana, Cuba) Abstract: The values for Energy/Protein Index (E/P) in selected samples of 120 healthy school children aged 8 —14 years (53 boys and 67 girls) and in 78 healthy young adults aged 17 — 19 years (30 men and 48 women), were obtained. Correlations with body fat percent and the ratio Fat/Lean Body Mass were highly significant, and a high degree of association between E/P and several variables used as criterion of obesity like body weight for height, body weight for age, body weight percentile, body fat percent and triceps skinfold percentile was also demonstrated. Cut-off values for E/P of 1,500 for boys and young men, and of 1,650 and 1,700 for girls and young women respectively, were established as limits above which obesity could be diagnosed with accuracy. Our present results prove that E/P — which is the ratio between transformed triceps skinfold and the log10 of mid-arm muscle circumference — is a reliable indicator for assessing obesity and for establishing the differences between “constitutionally heavy” and true obese subjects. E/P gives similar information than body fat percent through two simple measurements, and it is much more reliable than those measurements like body weight or arm circumference which can only appraise variations in whole body mass and not in body composition. Key words: Energy/Protein Index, obesity, body composition. Introduction Energy/Protein Index (E/P) has been defined as the ratio between transformed fatfold at triceps (TTS) and the logarithm of mid-arm muscle circumference (TMAMC) (Amador et al. 1975). Further studies have demonstrated that there is a close relationship of E/P figures with adiposity and that these are significantly higher in overweight subjects than in lean ones (Amador et al. 1976). Although several criteria for diagnosing obesity have been defined, difficulties still arise when overweight is due to the developing of fat-free mass (FFM) (Forbes 1964) and the somatometric measurements which appraise the variations in whole body mass, — like body weight (for age or for height) and mid-arm circumference (MAC) — are considered for classification (Garn, Clark and Guire 1975). The study of fatfolds approaches more closely to the actual energy status (Committee on Nutrition, 1968), and the percentile distribution of triceps skinfold has proven to be very useful for this purpose, being also rather easy to obtain this measure from the subject. E/P relates adiposity to muscle mass at the level of the mid-arm and therefore gives information about the status of the two components of body mass: adipose tissue and fat-free mass, both affected in obese individuals; hence, it has been our aim to deep into the qualities of E/P for the assessment of obesity. 1* 3