Ethnic and gender differences in body fat in British schoolchildren as measured by DXA.

Background: There are known to be ethnic differences in body composition in adults which are related to ethnic differences in adult disease.

Objectives: To evaluate gender and ethnic differences in percentage body fat in British schoolchildren and to compare these differences with classification of obesity using body mass index (BMI) criteria.

Design: A cross-sectional study of 1251 healthy children and adolescents aged 5-18 years from white, South Asian and African-Caribbean ethnic groups.