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American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 74, No. 4, 555, October 2001
© 2001 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Letter to the Editor

On the matter of ethnic differences in body composition

Gilbert B Forbes

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry 601 Elmwood Avenue PO Box 777 Rochester, NY 14642

Dear Sir:

Casas et al (1) assayed body composition in Hispanic and white middle-aged women and reported that the former have a smaller fat-free mass (FFM), as estimated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Before one ascribes any physiologic or metabolic significance to this difference, it should be pointed out that the Hispanic women were on average 4 cm shorter than the white women.

As reported some years ago (2), lean weight is a function of stature at all ages. For adult women, this value is 0.48 kg FFM/cm ht (3). For the 2 groups studied by Casas et al, the average height difference was 4 cm; hence, the expected difference in FFM would be 4 x 0.48 = 1.9 kg. This value is almost the same as the observed difference in FFM ({approx}2 kg) found between Hispanic and white women by Casas et al. It would have been of interest if Casas et al had compared differences in FFM between Hispanic and white women of like stature.

REFERENCES

  1. Casas YG, Schiller BC, DeSouza CA, Seals DR. Total and regional body composition across age in healthy Hispanic and white women of similar socioeconomic status. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;73:13–8.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  2. Forbes GB. Stature and lean body mass. Am J Clin Nutr 1974; 27:595–602.[Abstract]
  3. Forbes GB. Human body composition. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1987:174–7.




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