The Evaluation of Leanness-Fatness in Man: Norms and Interrelationships

One of the fundamental characteristics of man's state of nutrition is the composition of his body. Grossly, at least, this means the proportion of his body-weight accounted for by the basic components of blood (subdivided into plasma and cells), interstitial fluid, bone, fat, and 'active tissues' (principally muscles, glands, and nerves). Body fat shows the most striking variations in states of nutrition varying along the emaciation-obesity continuum. The provision of improved methods for a quantitative estimation of the relative fatness is one of the pressing tasks of nutritional science; it is essential both for the evaluation of calorie nutrition and for the establishment of valid estimates of calorie requirements (cf. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1950).