Healthy adiposity in women: the Framingham Offspring Study

This report estimates a threshold for "healthy adiposity" by determining the relationship between subscapular skinfolds thickness, a direct measure of adiposity, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in 1254 nonsmoking adult women who participated in the Framingham Offspring Study. Cardiovascular disease risk factors, including blood pressure, fasting plasma lipoprotein cholesterol, plasma glucose and echocardiographically measured left ventricular mass, were included. The optimal subscapular skinfold for 20-39-year-old women was determined to be < 15 mm. Women aged 20-59 whose subscapular skinfolds were below this level had a mean body mass index (BMI) of 21.1 kg/M2. Weight-for-height estimates for these women corresponded closely to the 1959 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Desirable Weight table. The probability of having unhealthy adiposity was estimated for all women aged 20-59 for each (rounded) integer value grouping of BMI. The probability of being above the healthy adiposity threshold rises rapidly across BMI levels > 20 and plateaus > 24. Thus, only women with BMI < 24 need assessment for adiposity status.