How Accurate Are the Anthropometry Equations in in Iranian Military Men in Predicting Body Composition?

BACKGROUND: The body composition varies according to different life styles (i.e. intake calories and caloric expenditure). Therefore, it is wise to record military personnel’s body composition periodically and encourage those who abide to the regulations. Different methods have been introduced for body composition assessment: invasive and non-invasive. Amongst them, the Jackson and Pollock equation is most popular. OBJECTIVES: The recommended anthropometric prediction equations for assessing men’s body composition were compared with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) gold standard to develop a modified equation to assess body composition and obesity quantitatively among Iranian military men. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 101 military men aged 23 - 52 years old with a mean age of 35.5 years were recruited and evaluated in the present study (average height, 173.9 cm and weight, 81.5 kg). The body-fat percentages of subjects were assessed both with anthropometric assessment and DEXA scan. The data obtained from these two methods were then compared using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of body fat percentage of the DEXA assessment was 21.2 ± 4.3 and body fat percentage obtained from three Jackson and Pollock 3-, 4- and 7-site equations were 21.1 ± 5.8, 22.2 ± 6.0 and 20.9 ± 5.7, respectively. There was a strong correlation between these three equations and DEXA (R² = 0.98). CONCLUSIONS: The mean percentage of body fat obtained from the three equations of Jackson and Pollock was very close to that of body fat obtained from DEXA; however, we suggest using a modified Jackson-Pollock 3-site equation for volunteer military men because the 3-site equation analysis method is simpler and faster than other methods.