Menstrual Status and Validation of Body Fat Prediction in Athletes

Document Type

Article

Authors

Anne B. Loucks, University of California, Sandiego: La Jolla, CA
Steven M. Horvath, University of California, Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara, CA
Patty S. Freedson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Abstract

Frisch and colleagues and others have used the Mellits and Cheek method to estimate body fatness in women athletes, and a value (22%) obtained from this calculation has been interpreted as a critical fatness for the maintenance and restoration of regular menstrual cycles. In comparison with hydrostatic weighing, the Mellits and Cheek method was shown to be inaccurate in predicting either mean or individual percent body fat in women runners and body builders. No fatness threshold for the maintenance of regular menses was found. There was no difference in mean body fat between eumenorrheic (n = 19) and amenorrheic (n = 13) athletes, all of whom were less than 22% body fat.

Recommended Citation

Loucks, Anne B.; Horvath, Steven M.; and Freedson, Patty S. (1984) "Menstrual Status and Validation of Body Fat Prediction in Athletes," Human Biology: Vol. 56: Iss. 2, Article 15.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol56/iss2/15