Assessing Various Body Composition Measurements as An Appropriate Tool for Estimating Body Fat in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Female Collegiate Athletes

Andrew Shim^1, , Patrick Cross², Shannon Norman¹ and Patrick Hauer³

¹Division of Kinesiology & Sport Science, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD. USA

²Department of Physical Therapy, Briar Cliff University, Sioux City, IA. USA

³Department of Physical Therapy, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD. USA

Cite this paper

Andrew Shim, Patrick Cross, Shannon Norman and Patrick Hauer. Assessing Various Body Composition Measurements as An Appropriate Tool for Estimating Body Fat in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Female Collegiate Athletes. American Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2014; 2(1):1-5. doi: 10.12691/AJSSM-2-1-1

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine if various convenient and cost affordable body composition techniques correlate well with more expensive “gold standard” instruments for measuring body composition in female collegiate athletes. Methods: Thirty-two Division I track and field and basketball female athletes participated in the study. The host university’s Institutional Review Board approved the protocols towards ethical treatment of all subjects before the study commenced. Within one hour, each subject underwent body composition assessments via air displacement plethysmography (ADP), skinfold (SF) measurements, and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Results: No significant differences were found between basketball and track athletes thus data was normalized. No significant difference in calculated percent body fat was noted between ADP and SF (p = .002), but there was a significant difference between ADP and BIA (p = .478). Per Pearson correlations, moderate correlations existed between body fat percentages obtained by ADP and SF (r = .689) as well as between body fat percentages estimated by ADP and BIA (r = .447). Conclusions: Results indicate the SF technique had the highest correlation when compared to the BOD POD^®. Skinfold measurements obtained with the Harpenden Skinfold Calipers may be used as a quick, affordable, and reliable technique for measuring body fat percentages in female collegiate athletes when performed by an experienced skinfold assessor.

Keywords

body fat, air displacement plethysmography, skinfold,body composition

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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