Aim: To evaluate body composition of black and white schoolchildren in Brazil.
Methods: The study included 1,443 children aged 6-11 years, both genders, black and white skin colors. The measures of weight, height, BMI, brachial perimeter, tricipital and subscapular skinfolds, lean and fat area of the arm were transformed into standard deviation scores (SDS).
Results: As to frequency of variables under -2 SDS, only arm perimeter and lean area of the arm in both white and black schoolchildren showed results over 7%, but tricipital and subscapular skinfolds, fat area of the arm, sum of skinfolds and fat percentage, in both skin colors, presented results close to zero. As to frequency of variables over +2 SDS, only fat percentage presented results over 5% in both skin colors.
Conclusion: The present study did not find important differences in body composition between black and white schoolchildren in this group of the Brazilian population.