Body fat - Skinfold - Durnin and Womersley Print E-mail
Durnin and Womersley bodyfat by skinfoldAmong affordable methods for measuring body fat percentage, using a skinfold caliper is still the best and the 4 spot formula by Durnin and Womersley is very accurate for most people.

Among affordable methods for measuring body fat percentage, using a skinfold caliper is still the best and the four spot formula by Durnin and Womersley is very accurate for most people.

 

Skinfold spots Instructions:
1. Measure skinfold in millimeters as indicated on the pictures and enter values.
2. For further instructions see our guide "How to measure body fat with a skinfold caliper"

Background

The Durnin & Womersley calculation should be considered valid for people between 17 and 68 years old.

References

Durnin JVGA, Womersley J. Body fat assessed from total body density and its estimation from skinfold thickness: measurements on 481 men and women aged from 16 to 72 years. Br J Nutrition. 1974; 32: 77-97.

Siri WE. The gross composition of the body. pages 239-280. IN: Lawrence JH, Tobias CA (editors). Advances in Biological and Medical Physics. Academic Press, Inc. Advances in Biological and Medical Physics. 1956; 4: 239-280.



Comments (26)add comment

james said:


what is the sum of the 4 sites? is this the 4 sites added up e.g B=10 T=10 S=10 S=10 total sum =40 then log=1.60206

?? the foumula is not working??

December 29, 2011

Adrian said:


can you edit and make possible to write biceps, triceps, subscapular and suplailiac values of 0.5mm:
Example: biceps 2.5 mm, triceps 8.5mm, subscapular 11.5mm and suprailiac 14.5mm??

i would really apreciate if you can do that.

thanks
November 01, 2011

DR.SALIM JAVED said:


I really like your web site, but I am using it 1st time for appropriate formulas with reliability and validity to calculate fat% of sum of 3,4,,5 and recent(common for all) skin fold sites. Let me know of any latest changes. Thanks.
October 17, 2011

Johnny said:


Durnin-womersly formula on the chart it says sum of folds then below that it has a series of numbers from 5-200 in a sequence of 5's how do u know how many sums of fold u have when u r done found your measurements?
October 04, 2011

MANOHAR said:


PlEASE GIVE ME THE Formula For Calculating Percent Body Fat from Skinfold Measurements(bicepes and tricepes ect)
April 10, 2011

Morten Z said:


Stuck -> I don't understand your question. How can your result vary if in you enter the same numbers in to the same formula. Also, I think your biceps measurement is wrong. It is unlikely that you have 81 mm for biceps when you have 13 mm for other measurements.
November 24, 2010

Stuck said:


I'm struggling to find density using the equation given for an assignment- I get different values each time I try and no idea which is right! Can anyone help?

My measurements are: 81.5mm (biceps); 25.8mm (triceps); 13.3 (subscap); and 12.6 (suprailiac).
The equation given (female 20-29) is:
density= 1.1599-(0.0717x log of sum of four sites)
(I think we have to use this equation even if outdated)

I'd appreciate any suggestions as my answers at the moment are ranging from 1.021 to 1.076.
Thanks.
November 21, 2010

Morten Z said:


Ashvin ->
The formulas for converting body density to percent body fat for American Indians are:
Males: Age 18-62(4.97/Db)-4.52
Females: Age 18-60(4.81/Db)-4.34

The basic Durnin & Womersley formulas are the same.

Not sure of the original reference specific for this.
October 21, 2010

Ashvin said:


what is the formula for Indians?plz give me referance of it .
October 21, 2010

Morten Z said:


Rachael ->
Here is the explanation: Before the modification of the calculator all calculations were based on the formula for age 20-29, because this works best for an athletic population even though the person is above 29. However as this wasn't in agreement with the original source and possibly the calculator is also being used for a non-athletic population, the calculator was changed to use the age-differentiated formulas.

If you want the same calculation as before, just enter age as 29.
August 25, 2010

Rachael said:


Has anyone else found that their previous clients measurements are now at a higher % due to the modifications in the calculations? When infact the measurements have not changed.
August 25, 2010

fathima said:


I want to measure body fat of adults. triceps, bicep and abdomen skinfold thicknesses have taken. Please give me an equation that can be measured body fat by using these all skinfold values or using any one of skinfold thickness. thanks
August 15, 2010

Morten Z said:


The calculator has now been updated so that age affects the result correctly. Also, an evaluation of the result has been included in the calculator.
July 30, 2010

Mike said:


Calculator is not loading onto computer. Help?
July 24, 2010

kalku1 said:


La variable edad no influye en el resultado del porcentaje de grasa corporal. Por favor revisar este detalle para que sea efectivamente util esta aplicación.
April 30, 2010

emmanuel a said:


great job. i need an equation for percentage body fat, lean body mass and total boby fat with standards to intrepret my the result for male adolescent
March 25, 2010

emmanuel A said:


how can iintrerpret the result of body fat and lean boby mass
March 25, 2010

Jon Mc. said:


Here is the Durnin & Womersley complete formulas:
Calculation of Body Density According to the method of Durnin & Womersley
(Biceps, Triceps, Subscapula, and Suprailiac)

Equations for Men
Age range
17-19D = 1.1620 – 0.0630 x (log ∑)
20-29D = 1.1631 – 0.0632 x (log ∑)
30-39D = 1.1422 – 0.0544 x (log ∑)
40-49D = 1.1620 – 0.0700 x (log ∑)
50+D = 1.1715 – 0.0779 x (log ∑)

Equations for Women
Age range
17-19D = 1.1549 – 0.0678 x (log ∑)
20-29D = 1.1599 – 0.0717 x (log ∑)
30-39D = 1.1423 – 0.0632 x (log ∑)
40-49D = 1.1333 – 0.0612 x (log ∑)
50+D = 1.1339 – 0.0645 x (log ∑)

Race
American Indian18-60Female(4.81/Db)-4.34
Black 18-32Male(4.37/Db)-3.93
24-79Female(4.85/Db)-4.39
Hispanic20-40Female(4.87/Db)-4.41
Japanese Native18-48Male(4.97/Db)-4.52
Female(4.76/Db)-4.28
61-78Male(4.87/Db)-4.41
Female(4.95/Db)-4.50
White 7-12Male(5.30/Db)-4.89
Female(5.35/Db)-4.95
13-16Male(5.07/Db)-4.64
Female(5.10/Db)-4.66
17-19Male(4.99/Db)-4.55
Female(5.05/Db)-4.62
20-80Male(4.95/Db)-4.50
Female(5.01/Db)-4.57
Levels of Body Fatness
Anorexia15-30Female(5.26/Db)-4.83
Obese 17-62Male(5.00/Db)-4.56
Athletes*High school and college age Male and female(4.57/Db)-4.142

I hope this is detailed enough for everyone.
December 31, 2009

kerim said:


this is the formula of durnin/Womersley;
S = Sum of all four folds
A = age in years
d = 1,1714 - 0.063 * log(S) - 0.000406*A
Bodyfat [%] = 495 / d - 450
December 15, 2009

charles olivier said:


What is the formulae for this body fat estimation?
November 17, 2009

RG said:


How can I interprete the results of o;dy fat and lean body mass?
October 22, 2009

RG said:


Which caliper is recommended? Lange or Harpenden? Because they have different compressiblility...
Where I can get the formula for D&W equation?
Thanks,
October 22, 2009

Morten Z said:


Image updated :-)
September 29, 2009

Morten Z said:


Thanks for the comment - never gave that a thought. I will change it ASAP.
September 22, 2009

Dr. Dan said:


I really like your web site, but I couldn't use it for my health class because you had to use a model with BIG breasts and nipples. Freshman high school students just can't separate science and nudes. Let me know of any changes. Thanks.
September 22, 2009

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