Bergman et al developed the body adiposity index (BAI) as a measure of body adiposity. The authors are from the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medical Group and the National Institutes of Health.
Reference method: DEXA
Population: Mexican-American adults from 18 to 67 years (from the BetaGene study)
Parameters:
(1) gender
(2) age in years
(3) height in meters
(4) weight in kilograms
(5) hip circumference in cm
(6) waist circumference in cm
Gender
Points
female
0
male
1
percent body fat =
= (0.02 * (age in years)) - (11.7 * (points for gender)) - (20 * (height in meters)) + (0.14 * (weight in kg)) + (0.07 * (waist circumference)) + (0.13 * (hip circumference)) + 0.37
The equation as written does not generate the expected results. The most likely explanation is that the factor for height (-20) is not correct. It could be (-0.2). The factors for gender and age make sense, as does the factor for body weight. Percent body fat would be expected to increase with increasing hip and waist circumference.
Limitations:
• The authors thought that few clinicians would want to calculate a complex equation.
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