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Reference curves for biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds in Dutch children from 7-14 years
Insights
The Nymegen Growth Study created reference curves for skinfold measurements using Box-Cox transformation. These curves provide a Gaussian distribution, enabling standard deviation scores for children aged 7-14.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric growth assessment
- Anthropometry and body composition analysis
Background:
- Accurate anthropometric data is crucial for monitoring child development.
- Existing reference data may lack sufficient statistical robustness for clinical application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish reliable reference curves for key skinfold measurements in children.
- To apply statistical methods ensuring data suitability for standard deviation score calculations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Box-Cox transformation on skinfold data from the Nymegen Growth Study.
- Collected a representative sample of 1850 measurements from boys and 2250 from girls.
- Ensured data normality for statistical analysis.
Main Results:
- Generated reference curves for biceps, triceps, subscapular, and suprailiac skinfolds and their sums.
- Achieved an acceptable Gaussian distribution across all age groups post-transformation.
- Presented seven percentile curves for boys and girls aged 7-14 years.
Conclusions:
- The Box-Cox transformed data supports the use of standard deviation scores for growth monitoring.
- The generated reference curves offer a statistically sound tool for assessing pediatric body composition in The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Box-Cox transformation of skinfold measurement data from the Nymegen Growth Study produced reference curves for biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds and their sums with an acceptable Gaussian distribution at all ages. The population sample, resulting in 1850 skinfold measurements for boys and 2250 for girls by a single observer, was obtained by random selection and can be considered as representative for The Netherlands. The Gaussian distribution after Box-Cox transformation allows the use of standard deviation scores. Seven percentile curves are presented for boys and girls of 7-14 years of age.