Accuracy of prediction equations to assess percentage of body fat in children and adolescents with Down syndrome compared to air displacement plethysmography.
Grab your calipers and use the Slaughter equation for fast, fair body-fat checks in youth with Down syndrome.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested four skinfold equations on youth with Down syndrome. They wanted to know which equation best matches the gold-standard air chamber test.
Kids and teens gave skinfold pinches at four sites. The same youth then sat in the air-displacement chamber.
What they found
Only the Slaughter equation landed close to the chamber results. The other three drifted too high or too low.
How this fits with other research
Beck et al. (2021) later showed that adult equations also fail in Down syndrome, but for fitness, not fat. Their waist-only fix echoes our youth finding: pick the right tool.
González-Agüero et al. (2011) used the same air chamber on similar youth. They mapped fat patterns; we tested cheap tools. Together we show standard BMI misses risk, yet Slaughter pinches catch it.
Sugimoto et al. (2016) and Iglesias-Díaz et al. (2025) prove strength training works for this group. Accurate Slaughter scores let you track body change before and after these programs.
Why it matters
You can swap pricey chamber tests for a quick Slaughter skinfold check. Use it to set baseline fat, write goals, and show parents real change after exercise programs.
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Take one Slaughter skinfold set on your Down-syndrome client and file it as the body-fat baseline.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
To determine the accuracy of the published percentage body fat (%BF) prediction equations (Durnin et al., Johnston et al., Brook and Slaughter et al.) from skinfold thickness compared to air displacement plethysmography (ADP) in children and adolescents with Down syndrome (DS). Twenty-eight children and adolescents with DS (10-20 years old; 12 girls, 16 boys) participated in the study. Anthropometric measurements height, weight, and skinfolds biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac were performed following ISAK recommendations. Total body density (TBD) was estimated using three equations and was also measured with ADP; while %BF was calculated from all densities using the Siri equation and from skinfolds using the Slaughter et al. equation. Finally, the agreement between methods was assessed by plotting the results in Bland-Altman graphs. The presence of heteroscedasticity was also examined. Despite the equation of Slaughter et al. had a large 95% limits of agreement, it was the only one without a significant inter-methods difference and without heteroscedasticity. The equation of Slaughter seems to be, from the studied, the most accurate for estimating %BF in children and adolescents with DS.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2011 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.03.006