Body Comp Lab 397

Body Composition

Corey Cadwell 12/11/2018 Lab 3 Wednesday 1:50

Introduction: This lab will record and analyze the data from many different tests. The waist to hip ratio will be recorded to using a measuring tape to find the waist and circumferences. In this lab the body mass index will also be recorded. The height and weight of the subject will be recorded, and the BMI will be calculated for comparison. With the use of equipment, the upper and lower body bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) will be recorded. In this lab a skin fold will be performed at sites including the abdomen, chest, midaxillary, subscapular, suprailiac, thigh, and tricep. This data will be recorded more than once for an average to compare to other sites. Purpose and Background The purpose of this lab is to find data using certain forms of equipment that can accurately describe a person health and body composition. In this lab techniques will be used that will measure body composition indirectly. One of the measurements that is used is the waist-to-hip ratio. This is a good indicator of cardiovascular risk, measuring the fat stored in the abdominal area. The more fat, the greater the waist to hip ratio. Another indirect measurement of fat is skinfolds. By finding measurement using a pinching of the skin away from the body, we can use different formulas to calculate the percent of body fat. There are different formulas for each part of the population. This lab was performed on a male subject 4 sites were recorded. Once the 4 sites were the recorded, the use of the formula for 4 sites would calculate the percent of body fat. Another measurement used in this lab is the Body Mass Index (BMI). This is performed by measure the subject’s height and weight and converting them in the metric system. Then they are put into a formula to calculate a number that is compared to a chart, stating how healthy the subject is. The next test performed is the BIA, Bioelectrical Impedance. This estimates body composition by using electrical conductivity of various tissues. Impedance is a measure of how current is slowed or stopped as it passes through a material. The two components for impedance are resistance and reactance. Because fat has less water in it than other material in the body, electric current passes through it slower or is stopped This can be measured with the use of the BIA. Hypothesis: This lab will express that different forms of measurement will be more accurate than others. Through the use a many indirect method to find body fat this lab will find some forms are better than others or if taking all into account is the best measurement. Materials used in this laboratory experiment: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Bio-impedance test Measuring tape Scale Skinfold caliper 4-site formula

Procedure: 1. Measure the circumference of the waist

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Measure the circumference of the hip Find the waist to hip ratio Measure the BMI using the weight and height of the subject Use the BIA to find the upper body percent Use the BIA to find the lower body percent Perform a skinfold at the abdominal site 3 times Perform a skinfold at the suprailiac site 3 times Perform a skinfold at the thigh site 3 times Perform a skinfold at the tricep site 3 times Calculate the average for each site out of the 3 times separately. Use the averages in the 4-site formula to find the percent of body fat

Graphs:

Bioelectical impedance Analysis

Percent of Body Fat (%)

30 25 20 15

10 5

0 upper body

lower body

Skinfold measurments skinfold measurement (mm)

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 abdominal

suprailiac

thigh

tricep

Skinfold test Measurements

1

2

3

average

Abdominal

6mm

6mm

5mm

5.67mm

Suprailiac

5mm

4mm

4mm

4.34mm

Thigh

3mm

3mm

2.5mm

2.84mm

Tricep

3mm

3mm

2mm

2.67mm

Questions: 1. The person has their own way of pinching along with the amount of pressure in their pinch. This will make the same person taking measurements more accurate while switching people proves to be not as accurate. 2. The intake of food and liquids will change the body fat percentage. This may change how you test the person. You may have them make sure they do not eat before testing or the subject could drink a lot of water before testing.

Discussion: This lab proceeded with a test subject and a recording of the subject as they have many tests performed on them. The subject would have measurements taken, including the waist to hip ratio and comparing that number to a chart which puts the subject in a respected category. According to the data recorded the subject was higher than anything on the chart. Putting the subject at a very high risk for cardiovascular disease. The subject’s lifestyle did not follow along with what the data was showing in the waist to hip ratio. This could be due to human error; the person measuring could have measured in the wrong areas. This could also be due to the type of lifestyle the person is living, if the subject works out the lower body or mid-section more than certain muscles could make the circumference change from what the waist to hip ratio should be measuring. The next measurement done on the subject is the Body Mass Index (BMI). The subject’s weight and height were recorded and put into a formula to find a number. That number was compared to chart, which categorized the subject into a certain area of health. According to the chart the subject was overweight. This data according to the lifestyle of the subject being a fit individual, is believed to be inaccurate. This could be because the calculations do not consider the amount of muscle that the subject has. The subject in this lab works out very often and has gain muscle which would make the data of the BMI more inaccurate. The next form of measurement is the Bioelectrical impedance Analysis (BIA). This test had the subject hold the BIA out in front of them while an electric current would travel through the body to find what percentage of fat the subject had. According to the data recorded the subject had an upper body of 19% and a lower body of 24%. This would seem slightly high for the subject’s lifestyle. This could be because the subject was not fully hydrated. When doing the BIA an electrical current is sent through the body. The electrical current travel faster through water and fat does not store water like muscle and other substances in the body. If the subject was not fully hydrated, then the BIA could not tell the difference between the fat and other substances making the percentage recorded higher. The next form of measurement is the skinfold of different sites. This is done through a skin fold caliper. The subject had measurement taken at for different sites and then a formula was used to find the percentage of fat in the body. Through this skinfold method the subject had a 2.46% of body fat.

This is very low. A person would most likely be dead if their body fat was this low. This measurement could be inaccurate because human error. The way the measurer is taking measurements could not be fully accurate. This could be due to the body parts the subject works out and the body parts they do not work out. If the subject mostly works upper body, then the measurement would through off the calculations In conclusion the most reliable way of measuring body fat is the BIA. It is more under the control of the person taking measurements. The person simply must fully hydrated to get the most accurate measurements. If the subject was to do the BIA after drinking a gallon of water, then the measurements would be the most accurate.