A sample of 242 children from south Louisiana ages 6-16 underwent a dual densitometric and anthropometric examination for the purpose of investigating race and sex contrasts in physique. This group was comprised of 79 white boys, 64 white girls, 49 black boys, and 50 black girls. Black children were found to have less body fat than the white ones and boys less than girls. Median densities reflecting these differences were 1.060, 1.049, 1.044, and 1.035 gm/cc for black boys, white boys, black girls, and white girls respectively. Correlations of -0.73 to -0.87 were found between density and different skinfolds and -0.27 and -0.89 between density and circumferences at various sites. Stepwise multiple regression analysis with density as the dependent variable and selected anthropometric measurements as independent variables resulted in R('2) statistics between 0.77 and 0.90 for the different race-sex groups. Principal component analysis isolated a skeletal dimensions, an adipose tissue, a sex, and a race factor as accounting for most of the anthropometric variation in body build. Additional analyses demonstrated blacks of each sex to be leaner than whites internally as well as subcutaneously; showed pre-menarcheal and post-menarcheal girls to be essentially equivalent in fatness; and indicated body volume estimates made from anthropometrics to be as accurate in approximating body fat as those from skinfold equations A consideration of the nature of these physique contrasts leads to the conclusions that genetic differences in both fat amount and corporal distribution exist between the races and that different standards are required for the two races as well as the sexes in the assessment of body composition parameters / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_25111 |
| Date | January 1983 |
| Contributors | Harsha, David William (Author) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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