A Simple Criterion of Obesity

Abstract

Height-weight tables, long used as a quantitative method of determining overweight, have serious limitations and defects in determining actual obesity. Caliper determinations of the triceps skin-fold thickness are easily made and permit a clear definition of obesity and a satisfactory assessment of its extent. The relation of skin-fold thickness to body fat content is virtually independent of height, permitting the establishment of a single value for each sex and age as the lower limit of obesity.