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. 2022 Jul;17(7):e12898.
doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12898. Epub 2022 Feb 8.

Body fat differences among US youth aged 8-19 by race and Hispanic origin, 2011-2018

Crescent B Martin  1 , Bryan Stierman  1   2 , Jack A Yanovski  3 , Craig M Hales  1   4 , Neda Sarafrazi  1 , Cynthia L Ogden  1
Affiliations

Body fat differences among US youth aged 8-19 by race and Hispanic origin, 2011-2018

Crescent B Martin et al. Pediatr Obes. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Background: The association between body mass index (BMI) and adiposity differs by race/ethnicity.

Objective: To examine differences in adiposity by race/Hispanic origin among US youth and explore how those differences relate to differences in BMI using the most recent national data, including non-Hispanic Asian youth.

Methods: Weight, height and DXA-derived fat mass index (FMI) and percentage body fat (%BF) from 6923 youth 8-19 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2018 were examined. Age-adjusted mean BMI, FMI and %BF were reported. Sex-specific linear regression models predicting %BF and FMI were adjusted for age, BMI category and BMI category*race/Hispanic origin interaction.

Results: %BF was highest among Hispanic males (28.2%) and females (35.7%). %BF was lower among non-Hispanic Black (23.9%) compared with non-Hispanic White (26.0%) and non-Hispanic Asian (26.6%) males. There was no difference between non-Hispanic Black females (32.7%) and non-Hispanic White (33.2%) or non-Hispanic Asian (32.7%) females. FMI was higher among Hispanic youth compared with non-Hispanic White youth. Among youth with underweight/healthy weight, predicted %BF and FMI were lower among non-Hispanic Black males (-2.8%; -0.5) and females (-2.0%; -0.3), compared with non-Hispanic White youth, and higher among Hispanic males (0.9%; 0.2) and females (2.0%; 0.5), while %BF but not FMI was higher among non-Hispanic Asian males (1.3%) and females (1.4%). Among females with obesity, non-Hispanic Asian females had lower %BF (-2.3%) and FMI (-1.7) than non-Hispanic White females.

Conclusions: Differences in %BF and FMI by race/Hispanic origin were not consistent by BMI category among US youth in 2011-2018.

Keywords: DXA; NHANES; adiposity; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; fat mass index; percentage body fat.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Yanovski reports grants from Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, grants from Soleno Therapeutics, non-financial support from Hikma Pharmaceuticals, grants from NICHD intramural research grant, outside the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Mean percentage body fat, Fat Mass Index (FMI), and Body Mass Index (BMI) among children and adolescents aged 8-19 years, by 6-month age intervals and sex: United States, 2011–2018(A) Mean body fat percentage (%BF)(B) Mean fat mass index (FMI). (C) Mean body mass index (BMI) 95% confidence intervals are provided. SOURCE: NCHS, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011–2018
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Age-adjusted mean percentage body fat, FMI, and BMI among children and adolescents aged 8–19 years, by sex and race and Hispanic origin, 2011-2018(A) Males (B) Females Means are weighted and age-adjusted to the sex-specific age distribution of the sample in six-month age groups. 95% confidence intervals are provided. Means with no letter in common are significantly different (t-test; p < 0.05)SOURCE: NCHS, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011–2018
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Distributions of Body Mass Index, Fat Mass Index, and Percentage Body Fat among children and adolescents age 8 - 19 years, by sex and race and Hispanic origin: 2011-2018%"(A) Percent body fat among males (B) Fat Mass Index among males (C) Body Mass Index among males (D) Percent body fat among females (E) Fat Mass Index among females (F) Body Mass Index among females%"Distributions are weighted and age-adjusted to the sex-specific age distribution of the sample in six-month age groups.%"SOURCE: NCHS, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011–2018
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