Comparison between body fat measurements obtained by portable ultrasound and caliper in young adults

The objective of this study was to compare and correlate the Portable Ultra Sound (US) measuring technique to the skinfold measuring technique (SF) to estimate body fat percentage (%F) in young adults. Sixty military were evaluated, all males, divided in two groups: Group 1 (normal) composed by 30 military with Body Mass Index (BMI) until 24.99 kg/m(2) and Group 2 (overweight) composed by 30 military with BMI > 25 kg/m(2). Weight, height, skinfolds and ultrasound were measured in 9 points (triceps, subscapular, biceps, chest, medium axillary, abdominal, suprailiac, thigh and calf). Body fat average values obtained by skinfold thickness and ultrasound measurements were 13.25 ± 6.32 % and 12.73 ± 5.95 % respectively. Despite significant differences in measurements of each anatomical site, it was possible to verify that the total final body fat percentage calculated by both techniques did not present significant differences and that overweight group presented greater similarity between the values obtained using caliper and ultrasound equipment.