Then, in similar fashion to the volumetric methods, the formula-derived density is plugged into yet another formula along with total body mass (like the Siri Equation) to estimate body fat. The thickness of the skinfolds at those pre-determined locations (usually 3-7 sites across the body) are combined and plugged into a formula along with age to determine body density.
Body fat caliper skin#
"Measuring body fat can result in preoccupation with numbers, and not how those numbers are achieved."Īdds Diekman: "Schools and parents need to work to develop programs that help students learn why healthy eating, regular exercise, and avoiding smoking, drugs, and alcohol can make kids strong, help them perform better, and in the long run, healthier.Body fat measurement by way of skinfolds involves using a device, called a caliper, to pinch the skin and underlying fat tissue at a number of pre-determined body points and separate that skin and fat tissue from the muscle underneath. "Schools need to be teaching children what are the components of a healthy lifestyle," says Connie Diekman, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association in Chicago. Instead of focusing on numbers, experts say schools should stick to education - and emphasize healthy habits. This plan would add even more emphasis to the idea of body fat as evil, exactly at a time when they are supposed to be gaining body fat as their bodies mature into an appropriately womanly form."
"Young girls in particular already have a traumatic time simply being weighed in a public setting. "I think measuring body fat in middle and high schools is a disastrous idea," says Nemeroff. Another student admitted she tried to stay home from school the day of the testing.Ĭarol Nemeroff, a psychology professor from Arizona State University in Tempe, agrees that testing in schools may be harmful to children, not only socially, but physically as well. She said kids compared their numbers, while she stood, humiliated, in the corner of the gym. One high school student says she "felt a little weird about the testing at first, but wanted to know if I was slightly overweight or not." But a 12-year-old girl revealed she had a high number, which led her to believe she was fat. "Sure, some are embarrassed by their number, but on the flip side it's good for them to know." Newcomb says 90 percent of his students want to know their body fat percentage. "So we try to address that by making them realize they have to start paying attention to what they eat and the importance of exercise." "There are so many youth these days that are severely overweight, their body fat is way out of whack," says Russ Newcomb, a physical education teacher at Burlington High School in Burlington, Mass. "Doing this in schools seems like a disaster," he adds, "Kids knowing these numbers, teasing others who show up with a high BMI or blood pressure, putting the issue of overweight in public view of others when overweight kids have a terrible time in school with teasing."Ī spot check of 15 communities found nine that perform the test in schools, with proponents saying it is part of a valuable fitness evaluation. Herzog believes school testing contributes to teasing, and gives kids who are overweight one more reason to feel they are different from the norm. "If body mass index or cholesterol is a problem, a consultation can happen immediately with the family." David Herzog, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Mass. "Kids have yearly physicals and pediatricians can do all these measurements in the privacy of the office with the parent in the waiting room," says Dr.
0 kommentar(er)
