| This study examined the degree of body fatness and the developmental trends of body composition of Korean youth. The Korean data were compared with U.S. reference data from the National Children and Youth Fitness Study. The goal of this study was to compare the body composition of Korean and American youth and to establish body fat standards of Korean youth. The subjects were 1,663 Korean students (773 males and 890 females), in grades 7 to 12. The anthropometric measurements taken included: weight, height, triceps and medial calf skinfolds. A polynomial trend analysis examined the developmental trends of body composition of Korean youth. Girls had significantly more subcutaneous adipose tissue than boys. A significant age by gender interaction existed, showing that the skinfold profiles for males and females were not parallel over the age groups. The gender-specific polynomial trend analysis defined the skinfold trend over ages. Generally, girls' body fatness increased, while boys' body fatness decreased throughout the teen years. For the sum of triceps and calf skinfold thickness, girls increased with a cubic trend, whereas boys maintained a constant trend. For the medial calf skinfold, girls increased with a cubic trend, while boys decreased with a linear trend. Triceps skinfold for the girls continually increased with a quadratic trend, while boys decreased until age 17 and then increased up to age 18 with a quadratic trend. When compared to American youth, Korean youth, boys and girls, were shorter and lighter. In contrast, the triceps skinfold of Korean boys and girls was thicker than American youth. Moreover, the skinfold and body mass index profiles of Korean and American youth followed similar patterns.;To determine the degree of body fatness of Korean youth, the prevalence of obesity and overweight was estimated and compared with American youth (Lohman, 1992). The prevalence of overweight in Korean youth, boys of girls, was lower than American youth, but the prevalence of obesity in Korean boys was higher than U.S. boys. In contrast, the prevalence of obesity in Korean girls was lower than U.S. girls. For educational and health promotional purposes, both norm-referenced and criterion-referenced body fat standards of Korean youth were developed. |
