On the assumption that the potassium content of the lean body mass is constant, it should be possible to estimate fat content in living man from a measurement of potassium-40 activity in the whole-body scintillation counter. A series of such measurements on children and young adults shows good correlations with skin-fold thickness and weight/height ratio as indices of fatness.
Editor3 Note: Although new techniques have evolved and are in use, as noted in the lead article in this issue, potassium4 has remained a near-gold standard for the assessment of lean batty mass. The article reprinted here, written by Dr. Gilbert Forbes and his colleagues in 1961. is responsible for that remarkabh achievement. This highly innowrive application of the ' 'new" technology of scintillation counting is but one of the many contributions that Dr. Forbes has made to our understanding qf budy cowposition.
On the assumption that the potassium content of the lean body mass is constant, it should be possible to estimate fat content in living man from a measurement of potassium-40 activity in the whole-body scintillation counter. A series of such measure ments on children and young adults shows good correlations with skin-fold thickness and weightlheight ratio as indices of fatness.
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