Reference data for arm muscle and arm adipose tissue areas in Mexican Americans from the Hispanic health and nutrition examination survey (HHANES 1982-1984): Comparisons with whites and blacks from NHANES II (1976-1980)

Data for arm muscle area (AMA) and arm adipose tissue area (AATA) from 3695 Mexican American children 6 months to 18 years of age included in HHANES (1982-1984) were used to obtain age- and gender-specific means and selected percentiles. These statistics were compared with those for non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black children from NHANES II (1976-1980). In comparison with non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black children, the Mexican American children tended to have smaller means and percentile values for AMA but larger values for AATA. There was considerable sexual dimorphism in AMA and AATA. Within each population, boys tended to have larger means and percentile values for AMA than girls, and girls tended to have larger values for AATA than boys. Within each population of boys, there was a prepubescent gain in AATA, followed by a midpubescent loss, and then an increase near the middle of the second decade. This ''fat wave'' pattern was not noticeable in girls. Population differences in age- and der-specific mean values for AMA and AATA were small. Few statistically significant differences were observed; these were no more common than would occur by chance, Therefore, population-specific reference data for AMA and AATA may not be needed for the clinical evaluation of Mexican Americans, non-Hispanic blacks, and non-Hispanic whites. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.