The Body Fat Data

      Fitting Percentage of Body Fat to Simple Body Measurements

                     252 observations, 19 variables

DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT:
Percentage of body fat, age, weight, height, and ten body circumference
measurements (e.g., abdomen) are recorded for 252 men.  Body fat, a
measure of health, is estimated through an underwater weighing
technique.  

Submerging people in water and measuring the amount of water they displace
is expensive and inconvenient. In practice, it's just not going to happen
as part of a routine physical exam. So the objective is to use multiple
regression to develop a formula for approximating percent body fat, based
on a set of measurements that are easier to carry out.


VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS:
Columns
  3 -   5  Case Number
 10 -  13  Percent body fat using Brozek's equation, 
           457/Density - 414.2
 18 -  21  Percent body fat using Siri's equation, 
           495/Density - 450
 24 -  29  Density (gm/cm^3)
 36 -  37  Age (yrs)
 40 -  45  Weight (lbs)
 49 -  53  Height (inches)
 58 -  61  Adiposity index (BMI) = Weight/Height^2 (kg/m^2)
 65 -  69  Fat Free Weight 
           = (1 - fraction of body fat) * Weight, 
           using Brozek's formula (lbs)
 74 -  77  Neck circumference (cm)
 81 -  85  Chest circumference (cm)
 89 -  93  Abdomen circumference (cm) "at the umbilicus 
           and level with the iliac crest"
 97 - 101  Hip circumference (cm)
106 - 109  Thigh circumference (cm)
114 - 117  Knee circumference (cm)
122 - 125  Ankle circumference (cm)
130 - 133  Extended biceps circumference (cm)
138 - 141  Forearm circumference (cm)
146 - 149  Wrist circumference (cm) "distal to the 
           styloid processes"

It is deeply offensive that only data for men are available. It suggests
that womens' health is less important.