Evaluating the correlation and prediction of trunk fat mass with five anthropometric indices in Chinese females aged 20e40 years Cheng Jiang a,1 , Shu-Feng Lei a,1 , Man-Yuan Liu a , Su-Mei Xiao a , Xiang-Ding Chen a , Fei-Yan Deng a , Hong Xu a , Li-Jun Tan a , Yan-Jun Yang a , Yan-Bo Wang a , Xiao Sun a , Yan-Fang Guo a , Jing-Jing Guo a , Xue-Zhen Zhu a , Hong-Wen Deng a,b, * a Laboratory of Molecular and Statistical Genetics and the Key Laboratory of Protein Chemistry and Developmental Biology of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, P.R. China b Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2411 Holmes Street, Kansas City, MO 64108, USA Received 9 December 2005; received in revised form 13 April 2006; accepted 26 April 2006 KEYWORDS Anthropometric index; Obesity; Trunk fat mass; Percent trunk fat mass; Principal component analysis Abstract Background and aims: Obesity is a worldwide problem, and excess trunk fat mass (FM trunk ) has been associated with an increased risk of diseases. The early measurement of FM trunk has potential importance to evaluate trunk obesity. We sought to evaluate the correlation and predication of FM trunk with five anthropo- metric indices in Chinese females. Methods and results: A sample of 850 China females aged 20e40 years were recruited and divided into four age groups with a 5-year range in each group. Five anthropometric indices were measured or calculated. FM trunk in kg was measured using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scanner. Principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple regression analysis were performed to develop prediction equa- tions. There was an increasing trend of FM trunk and five anthropometric indices in successively older age groups. Four formed principal components (PCs) interpreted over 99% of the total variation of five relative anthropometric indices in all age groups. Regression analyses showed that four PCs combined explained a greater * Corresponding author. Laboratory of Molecular and Statistical Genetics and the Key Laboratory of Protein Chemistry and Devel- opmental Biology of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, P.R. China Tel./fax: þ86 731 887 2791. E-mail address: hwdeng@hunnu.edu.cn (H.-W. Deng). 1 These authors contribute equally to this article. 0939-4753/$ - see front matter ª 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2006.04.007 Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases (2007) 17, 676e683 www.elsevier.com/locate/nmcd