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Skinfold Measures for Body Composition
The principle behind using skinfolds to measure body composition is that the amount of subcutaneous fat (the amount of fat just beneath the skin) is proportional to the total amount of fat in the body. The exact proportionality varies with sex, age, and ethnicity. Also, not all individuals deposit their subcutaneous fat in the same place, so the best equations use skinfold values from at least 3 different sites to help account for individual differences in fat deposition. Under ideal laboratory conditions the accuracy of skinfolds is ~ + 3.5% body fat.
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