The skinfold thickness is a much-used measurement for monitoring adiposity in a wide range of medical, health, occupational and sport science disciplines. Misconceptions abound, however, in its use, particularly that of purportedly predicting body 'fat' as opposed to 'adipose tissue'. To obtain data to investigate body composition and the extent to which anthropometry can be justifiably used to predict whole-body adiposity, an extensive dissection study was undertaken on 34 cadavers. In addition, to pre-empt questions on the applicability of cadaver data to living subjects, 40 elderly in vivo subjects of the same age range were compared with the cadaver population. No significant macro-morphological differences were found between males or females in the morbid and in vivo groups. Significant findings affect our previous understanding of the predictability of whole-body 'fat'. Skinfold compressibility was by no means constant; skin thickness varied with location in both sexes, females having thinner skin than males; there were significant sex differences in adipose tissue patterning. An identical thickness of adipose tissue did not necessarily contain the same concentrations of fat. Despite this variability, a relationship was demonstrated between aggregate skinfold measures and subcutaneous adipose tissue mass (as opposed to subcutaneous fat), this relationship being more evident in men. A strong relationship was found between subcutaneous adiposity and whole-body adiposity, and between direct skinfold depth measures and whole-body adiposity. The amount of visceral adipose tissue was the same in men and women, but in the men this represented a greater proportion of their total body adiposity. Further, the use of waist-to-hip girth ratio (WHR) was identified as an important predictor of health risk. These findings demonstrate that it is not sustainable to introduce a non-quantifiable error by transforming anthropometric values (skinfolds) into predictions of percentage body fat. If subcutaneous adiposity can be predicted, then an excellent indication of overall adiposity could be obtained. Currently, skinfold measurement can yield a reasonable indication of comparative subcutaneous adiposity (better in men than in women). In neither gender is this prediction completely reliable due to both inter- and intra-individual differences in the skinfold measurement procedure.

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The acquisition of soft tissue measurements, fat (chemical) or adipose tissue (morphological) quantities, is essential in clinical research and nutritional status and its associated health risks. This has led to a proliferation of methods for the in-vivo determination of body composition. None of the indirect in-vivo approaches to estimate body adipose tissue has been validated against direct dissection data except for the skinfold.Since the development of DEXA as a measurement tool of bone density and mineral content for the detection of osteoporosis, it became a tool for measuring regional and whole body masses, lean tissue, and fat. A number of validation attempts have been made, however mostly against other indirect in-vivo techniques.The purpose of this study was to conduct an in-vitro validation and quality control of the data acquisition of DEXA using dissection as the criterion method. Fourteen porcine hind legs were scanned with DEXA, weighed in air and water and dissected into skin, adipose tissue, muscle and bone. Normal distribution, means, standard deviations, paired student t-test, Pearson correlation coefficients, interclass correlations test, and a Bland-Altman plot were used. The results show systematically good to excellent correlations between DEXA and dissection data acquisition (r 2 ϭ0.75 to 0.99), but absolute indirect DEXA and direct dissection values are significantly different ( pϽ0.05). DEXA overestimates total weight, lean mass, and fat free mass and underestimates both mass and % adipose tissue.DEXA provides erroneous values for bone density. Data produced by DEXA are morphological, not chemical values, as claimed by the manufacturer.This 'pilot' study indicates that a 'simple' combination of skin, adipose tissue, muscle, and bone from hind legs may give an incomplete picture of reality as one needs to measure viscera, connective tissue, and air pockets of the body. Validation studies with intact bodies are advised.

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A 30-week lasting inpatient weight loss program improved selective attention, sustained attention, and short-term memory. Changes in body composition did not explain the improvements in cognitive functioning. Decreased fatigue resulted in improved aspects of cognition.