| Abstract: | The purpose of the present study was to examine the distribution of subcutaneous fat and to derive several equations to predict body density (BD) using an amplitude modulation type of ultrasonoscope (A-mode ultrasonoscope, FUKUDA FT-100). Subjects were 188 male physical education major college students ranging in age from 18 to 24 years. Fifty subjects who were randomly selected out of the 188 subjects were measured for BD by the underwater weighing technique and were used to derive the equation for estimating the BD. Four points (scapular, triceps, suprailiac, and thigh) of subcutaneous fat which had been commonly selected, height, and weight were measured. The four measurements of fat for the 188 subjects indicated rather small means and small standard deviations respectively. Furthermore, histograms of those measurements tended to show a significant skewness for low values and deviated from the normal probability curve (p less than 0.01). Regarding the means, they were almost all the same except for suprailiac measurements. Suprailiac measurements showed more large values and were distributed rather more widely than the other measurements. Derivations of the multiple regression equations from anthropometric measurements were made using the Wherry-Doolittle test selection method (Clarke & Clarke, 1972). Four measurements (triceps, suprailiac, height, and weight) were selected by the Wherry-Doolittle method. |
