Objective: The primary objective was to establish population-based, sex- and age-specific reference data with respect to body composition variables. Secondary objectives were to relate body mass index (BMI) to anthropometric measurements reflecting central adiposity and to body fat (BF). Another objective was to examine if secular changes in adipose tissue distribution occurred during the sampling period, 1994-1999.
Design: Sex- and age-specific data on anthropometric measurements and body composition were cross-sectionally collected in the reference study of Swedish Obese Subjects.
Subjects: In total, 1135 randomly selected subjects (524 men and 611 women), aged 37-61 y, BMI 17.6-45.4 kg/m(2).
Measurements: Measures of body fatness and fat distribution (by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and anthropometry) were collected.
Results: At BMI 25 kg/m(2), relative (absolute) BF mass was 24% (19 kg) in men vs 36% (25 kg) in women, waist circumference was 90 vs 85 cm, and sagittal trunk diameter was 21 vs 19 cm. BF and measures of centralized adipose tissue distribution increased with age in both sexes (P<0.01). In women, waist circumference and sagittal diameter increased (P<0.01) over the sampling period while BMI did not.
Conclusions: Sex- and age-specific reference data on body composition are reported from a randomly selected sample of Swedish men and women. At given BMIs, women had more BF but smaller waist circumference than men. Secular increases in indices of central obesity were found in women but not in men.