Body fat measurement in adolescent girls with type 1 diabetes: a comparison of skinfold equations against dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

Abstract

Aim: Skinfold measurement is an inexpensive and widely used technique for assessing the percentage of body fat (%BF). This study assessed the accuracy of prediction equations for %BF based on skinfold measurements compared to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in girls with type 1 diabetes and healthy age-matched controls. Methods: We included 49 healthy girls and 44 girls with diabetes aged 12–19 years old, comparing the predicted %BF based on skinfold measurements and the %BF values obtained by a Lunar DPX-L scanner. The agreement between the methods was assessed using an Bland–Altman plot. Results: The skinfold measurements were significantly higher in girls with diabetes (p = 0.003) despite a nonsignificant difference in total %BF (p = 0.1). A significant association between bias and %BF was found for all tested equations in the Bland–Altman plots. Regression analysis showed that the association between skinfold measurements and %BF measured by DXA differed significantly (p = 0.039) between the girls with diabetes and the healthy controls. Conclusion: The accuracy of skinfold thickness equations for assessment of %BF in adolescent girls with diabetes is poor in comparison with DXA measurements as criterion. Our findings highlight the need for the development of new prediction equations for girls with type 1 diabetes.