I. Skinfold thicknesses at seven sites were measured during and after pregnancy in eightyfour women ; in forty-eight of these, total body water was measured concurrently.2. Early in pregnancy (10 weeks) the skinfold measurements were highly correlated with each other and with maternal weight, ratio of observed weight to standard weight-for-height, 'dry' (water-free) weight, and with calculated estimates of body fat.3. At nearly all sites, skinfold thicknesses increased up to about 30 weeks of pregnancy. Increases were greater at 'central' and least at 'peripheral' sites, and were not proportional to the initial skinfold thickness.4. From 30 to 38 weeks of pregnancy, the patterns were variable: the mid-thigh skinfold continued to increase and at the other sites there was little change or a decrease.5. All sites decreased by a surprisingly large amount between 38 weeks of pregnancy and the end of the first post-partum week. The evidence suggests that this change, which was not related to the presence or absence of oedema, occurred about the time of parturition.6. From the end of the first post-partum week to 6-8 weeks post partunz, the changes were again variable. 7.The increase of skinfolds during pregnancy was greater in underweight than in overweight women, and in primiparae than in multiparae. The pattern of change was not affected in any consistent manner by oedema.8. The changes in skinfold thicknesses during pregnancy, especially up to about 30 weeks, showed patterns similar to those of total body-weight and 'dry' body-weight. A formula is given by means of which 'dry' weight can be predicted from five skinfolds, height and duration of gestation.
Metabolic and clinical investigations may involve the measurement of comparatively small changes in body-weight between the beginning and end of a period. Even with accurate scales and a carefully standardized procedure, the results may be distorted or obscured by short-term fluctuations of weight, which are difficult to control because their nature is not fully understood. These rapid fluctuations were referred to several times at a recent symposium of The Nutrition Society on Calorie Balance in Man. Durnin (1961) mentioned changes in weight from day to day of up to I kg in a group of forty-four men living under controlled conditions, and Edholm (1961) reported that in a group of twelve young soldiers weighed daily for a period of 7 weeks, a weight change of more than 0.5 kg from one day to the next was found on over a hundred occasions and weight changes of I kg or more were observed on thirty occasions. Elkinton & Danowski (1955) found a maximum weight change of about I kg from one day to the next, in one man whose basal body-weight was determined on 53 of 56 consecutive days; the standard deviation of body-weight was 5 0.86 lb or 5 0.51 yo of the body-weight. Graphs of the daily basal weight of fourteen women for 35 days, published by Thomas ( 1 9 5 3 )~ show similar weight fluctuations. T h e literature otherwise contains very little information about daily weight changes.The original object of the study reported here was to investigate possible changes in weight and food intake related to the menstrual cycle in one subject. Such changes were not found, but the figures collected illustrate the extent of daily fluctuations in weight and help to explain them in terms of food intake, water balance and activity. E X P E R I M E N T A LProcedure. Daily measurements of food and water intake, body-weight and urine output were made on one subject during two periods. During the first period (A) of 80 days (8 October to 26 December 1958), ordinary food habits and activities were maintained and a record of activity was kept for part of the time. During a second period (B) of 35 days (9 April to 13 May
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.