Abstract
Formulas for the prediction of total body fat from skinfold thickness in middle aged men were presented. Hydrostatic weighing was made on 35 middle-aged men $(age:\;40{\sim}50\;years)$ sad corrected for residual volume in lung. Skinfold thickness at four sites, namely, arm, back, waist and abdomen were compared with total fat calculated from the formula given by Keys and Brozek and regression equations were derived. In middle-aged men the observed values were: Body density, 1.07478 ; total body fat, 10.51% body weight; lean body mass, 89.49% body weight; arm skinfold thickness, 4.85mm; back, 10.4 ; waist, 7.72; abdomen, 7.62 and mean skinfold thickness of the four sites, 7.59 mm. The correlations between skinfold thickness and body density were high. The correlations between skinfold thickness and total body fat were also high. The coefficient of correlation between total body fat and arm skinfold, mean skinfold thickness were r=0.839 and r=0.862, respectively. Arm and mean skinfold thicknesses (x, mm) could be used as the representative value for the prediction of total body fat (y, % body weight). The regression equations were: On arm y=2.00x+0.99, With mean skinfold y=1.20x+1.41 The coefficient of correlation between body weight (kg) and mean skinfold thickness was r=0.733. The ratio of mean skinfold thickness (mm) to body weight (kg) in middle-aged men was 0.132.