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HOW SKIN FOLDS ARE ASSESSED
The skinfold caliper is applied to the skin fold after having moved the two
sides of the folds with the sublayers of fat to be measured.
fig. 1
1 In order to assess the skin folds, firmly grasp a skin fold in between your
fingertips of the thumb and index finger of the non dominating hand,
and lift. In this way the skin and the underlying fat will be lifted and
separated from the underlying muscular layers.
2 The arms of the skinfold caliper, after having extended them by using
the relative grip, held using the contralateral hand, will be released
transversally on the fold itself, immediately underneath (approximately
1 centimetre) the fingers that have lifted in, so as to measure the thickness.
Reading of the values, in the selected scale, is performed directly
on the instrument display and immediately after the skinfold caliper has
been released so as not to provoke progressive and excessive squashing
of the soft parts.
3 The value that shall be reported is equal to the arithmetical mean of two
subsequent measurements in case the deviation between the two is not
superior to 5%. In case the deviation is higher it is necessary to carry out
a third measurement and calculate the average value between this last
one and the previous measurements. In case of doubt, it is allowed to
perform a higher number of counterchecks.
Especially with women, some difficulties in lifting the skin folds can
occur due to the fact that the subcutaneous tissue is often integral to
the underlying muscular fascia, tightly adhering to it. In this case it is
advisable to make the skinfold measurement be preceded by some
pinching and releasing of the fold in sequence.
SKIN FOLDS TO BE MEASURED:
- Tricipital and scapular in males (fig. 2)
- Tricipital and forethigh in females (fig. 3-4)
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