The Association between Body Mass Index and Body Fat in College Students

大學生身體質量指數與體脂肪之關連性分析

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.

This study explored the association between BMI and body fat assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in college students. Cross-sectional studies of 2,531 college students were measured. BIA was used to quantify body fat mass (BFM), percentage of body mass (%BF) and visceral fat area (VFA). Significant correlations between BMI and BFM, %BF, VFA were fund, respectively (r=0.923, 0.836, 0.912 in male, p<0.001; r=0.920, 0.741, 0.920 in female, p<0.001). Regression analysis revealed that 85.3%, 69.9%, and 83.1% of the variance for BFM, %BF, and VFA could be explained by BMI in male students (p<0.001); and 84.7%, 54.9%, and 84.6% of the variance for BFM, %BF, VFA could be explained by BMI in female students (p<0.001). BFM and VFA were highly associated with BMI in college students, suggesting that BMI serves as a good surrogate marker for obesity in college students aged 18-24 years. However, a significantly medium correlation existed in BMI and %BF, which may be a limitation for BMI, when used to study risk factors for cardiovascular or metabolic diseases.

本研究主要探討大學生身體質量指數 (BMI) 與體脂肪之關連性。總共有2,531位大學生進行測量。以生物電阻分析(BIA) 身體脂肪量 (BFM)、身體脂肪百分比 (%BF) 與內臟脂肪 (VFA)，結果顯示: BMI與BFM、%BF、VFA均達顯著相關 (p<0.001)。本研究結果顯示大學生族群BMI與BFM、VFA有高度的關連性。因此，建議BMI可以做為18–24歲大學生族群評估肥胖之替代指標。然而，由於BMI與%BF僅存著中等的關連性，如果以BMI作為研究心血管或代謝疾病的危險因子，可能會成為研究之限制。