INTRODUCTION: Assessment of overweight and obesity in populations is has still been based on the body mass index, that is considered the universal indicator of adiposity. OBJECTIVE: To analyze 7-10 year-old schoolchildren body fat distribution, by building percentiles referentials of skinfold thickness, using LMS parameters. METHOD: Data were taken from a representative sample of 7-10-year-old schoolchildren attending public and private schools that participated in a comprehensive research study conducted in 2002, in the city of Florianopolis (Santa Catarina, Brazil), and composed of 2,918 children. In this study, the anthropometric data used were height, subscapular, suprailiac, triciptal and medial calf skinfolds. The LMS method, which propitiates normalizing data with asymmetric distribution, was used to analyze and compare skinfold thickness patterns by sex and age group. RESULTS: Both sexes presented higher values of subcutaneous fat in the triceps and calf regions; nevertheless, in male subjects theses values were lower than in females and with low increment along the age group investigated. The skinfold with the highest increment in median values was the suprailiac for females, which reached values close to those of the triciptal skinfold at 10 yr old. CONCLUSIONS: The LMS method propitiates analysis of the skinfolds thickness, which are important to perform analyses of the evolution of the body fat and the nutritional status of children.
skinfold thickness; body fat distribution; nutritional assessment; child
