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Document Type

Article

Abstract

A sample of 401 women medical students aged 20 to 39 yr, the classes grad­uating 1960-67 at The Medical College of Pennsylvania, were measured. The main Caucasian subsample (la, n = 351) had a regression of log Weight (W) on Height (H) with a slope similar to that of U.S.A. college women, Norwegian women of Bergen, and Indian women medical students. Other subsamples of this study (Caucasians born overseas, immigrated 0-5 yr previously, n = 19; Afro-Americans, n = 10; Oriental-Americans, n = 21) had log W/H regression lines differing significantly from that of subsample la.No significant differences were found among the 4 subsamples with regard to subscapular and triceps skinfolds, and per cent lean arm diameter cal­culated from arm circumference and skinfold. But arm circumference and arm diameter corrected for fat layer were significantly less in “recent immigrants and Oriental-Americans. All subjects but one that were overweight by +20% or more above the National Center for Health Statistics standards for height and age were found in subsample la. Thirty-three of this group were classified as +20% or more overweight by both the log W/H regres­sion of this study and the Society of Actuaries’ reference weight. Triceps skinfolds indicated an “obesity level ’ in only 5 of this group. Greater arm girth, lean arm diameter, chest width and relative hip width characterized this group as overweight due to muscle and bone. The subjects of this study differed from other samples of women of the U.S.A. in: greater stature, lower weight for height in the 4th decade compared with the 3rd, and lower percentage of overweight subjects.

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