Leg-to-height ratio as risk index for increasing the proportion of body fat mass (based on anthropometric survey of Chuvash from the Yadrinsky district of Chuvashia)

Abstract

Introduction. Scientific and medical communities are looking for various markers indicating the individual risk of gaining excess body fat due to the high prevalence of excess body weight. One of such markers is presumably the ratio of leg length to body height (leg-to-height ratio). There is evidence that leg length reflects the influence of environmental factors on the development of individuals. Due to conflicting data on the relationship between the leg-to-height ratio and percentage body fat, the aim of this work is to study the associations of leg length and fat deposition indicators using a sample of Chuvash people from the villages of the Yadrinsky District of the Chuvashia Republic as an example.

Materials and methods. The work analyzes the materials of an anthropometric survey of 226 Chuvash people - residents of the villages of the Yadrinsky District of Chuvashia (113 men and 113 women) aged 21-85 years. Standard anthropometric indicators were measured, and lengths of the leg, thigh and shin, percentage body fat and leg-to-height ratio were calculated. Pearson correlation coefficients between the studied features and indices were also calculated.

Results and discussion. In the male and female groups, the proportion of body fat mass is much more closely related to waist circumference (r = 0.80 for men and r = 0.90 for women) than to leg-to-height ratio (r = 0.04 for men and r = 0.05 for women). Sexual dimorphism in the relationship between the lengths of lower limb segments and the proportion of body fat mass was found. Leg length in the male group is related to the proportion of body fat mass by the coefficient r = -0.30 (in women r = -0.09). In our work, we examined a group of individuals homogeneous in ethno-territorial affiliation, but we do not have data on the economic well-being of the subjects and the factors influencing their pre- and postnatal development.

Conclusion. The negative relationship between leg-to-height ratio and percentage body fat found by other authors was not confirmed in our study. However, in men, a moderate negative association was found between the proportion of body fat and leg length and leg segment lengths.

Acknowledgements. The study was conducted under the state assignment of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The materials "Database on morphological features in the adult Chuvash population of the Yadrinsky district of Chuvashia (group 102)" were transferred to the author by Doctor of Biology V.A. Batsevich in 2023 to carry out this study. Currently, these materials are part of the archival fund of Dr. V.A. Batsevich. The author expresses his deep gratitude to the Doctor of Historical Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.P. Buzhilova for the idea of the study, valuable comments and editing of the text of the manual.

References

Batsevich V.A., Yasina O.V. Long-term changes somatic characteristics and age at menarche of rural Chuvash and Bashkir population in the XX century. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya XXIII. Anthropologiya, 2015, 4, pp. 4–13. (In Russ.).

Batsevich V.A., Yasina O.V., Sukhova A.V. Comparison of the morphological characteristics of the two groups of Chuvash, examined on the territory of Chuvashia and Bashkortostan. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya XXIII. Anthropologiya, 2017, 4, pp. 54–74. (In Russ.).

Berezina A.V., Beliaeva O.D., Bazhenova E.A., Berkovich O.A., Baranova E.I. et al. Lipid oxidation during physical exercises of different intensity in patients with abdominal obesity. Problems of Endocrinology, 2010, 56 (2), pp. 20–26. (In Russ.)

Bogin B., Varela-Silva M.I. Fatness biases the use of estimated leg length as an epidemiological marker for adults in the NHANES III sample. Int. J. Epidemiol., 2008, 37 (1), pp. 201–209. https://doi.org/ 10.1093/ije/dym254

Bogin B., Varela-Silva M.I. Leg length, body proportion, and health: a review with a note on beauty. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public. Health, 2010, 7 (3), pp. 1047–1075. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/ijerph7031047

Bondareva E.A., Leonov G.E., Parfenteva O.I., Arutiunian A.A., Bevziuk N.A. et al. Association of local bioimpedance analysis of the abdominal region with morphological and biochemical traits. Bulletin of RSMU, 2024, 4, pp. 52–59. https://doi.org/ 10.24075/brsmu.2024.030

Bunak V.V. Anthropometry. Moscow, Uchpedgiz Publ., 1941. 368 p. (In Russ.).

Cameron N., Schell L. (ed.). Human growth and development. Academic Press, 2021. 561 p. ISBN: 978-0-12-822652-0.

Dzgoeva F.Kh. Intrauterine nutrition: fetal programming of metabolic syndrome. Obesity and metabolism, 2015, 12 (3), pp. 10-17. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/ 10.14341/omet2015310-17

Frisancho A.R. Relative leg length as a biological marker to trace the developmental history of individuals and populations: growth delay and increased body fat. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2007, 19 (5), pp. 703–710. https://doi.org/ 10.1002/ajhb.20676

Hayırsever G., Erdal Y.S. The Contribution of the Distal Limbs to Height and Proportions in Different Socioeconomic Groups. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2025, 37 (6), p. e70078. DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.70078.

Jeong S.M., Lee D.H., Rezende L.F.M., Giovannucci E.L. Different correlation of body mass index with body fatness and obesity-related biomarker according to age, sex and race-ethnicity. Sci Rep., 2023, 13 (1), p. 3472. https://doi.org/ 10.1038/s41598-023-30527-w

Krogman W.M. Child growth. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 1972. 240 p. ISBN 0472050192.

Marwaha R.K., Tandon N., Garg M.K., Narang A., Mehan N. et al. Normative data of body fat mass and its distribution as assessed by DXA in Indian adult population. J. Clin. Densitom., 2014, 17 (1), pp.136–142. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jocd.2013.01.002

Negasheva M.A. Basics of anthropometry. Moscow, Ekon-Inform Publ., 2017. 216 p. (In Russ.). ISBN: 978-5-9500466-5-0.

Permiakova E.Yu., Sipatrova A.G., Godina E.Z., Anisimova A.V., Zadorozhnaya L.V. et al. On the quality of skinfold measurements using skinfold and sliding calipers. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya XXIII. Anthropologiya, 2021, 2, pp. 5–20. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/ 10.32521/2074-8132.2021.2.005-020

Peterson M.J., Czerwinski S.A., Siervogel R.M. Development and validation of skinfold-thickness prediction equations with a 4-compartment model. Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 2003, 77, pp. 1186–1191. https://doi.org/ 10.1093/ajcn/77.5.1186.

Rush E.C., Freitas I., Plank L.D. Body size, body composition and fat distribution: comparative analysis of European, Maori, Pacific Island and Asian Indian adults. Br. J. Nutr., 2009, 102 (4), pp. 632–641. https://doi.org/ 10.1017/S0007114508207221

Scammon RE. The ponderal growth of the extremitiesof the human fetus. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 1930, 15, pp. 111–121.

Smirnova N.S., Shagurina T.P. Methods of anthropometric research. In The method of morphophysiological studies in anthropology. Moscow, MSU Publ., 1981, pp. 4–43. (In Russ.)

Tanner J.M. Fetus into man. Physical growth from conception to maturity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978. 288 p. ISBN 9780674306929.

Vasilos L.V., Arama M.Gh., Cirstea O.N., Nedenco V.A. Environmental background of overweight and obesity development in children. Health. Medical ecology.
Science, 2016, 4 (67), pp. 20–25. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/ 10.18411/hmes.d-2016-149