Correlation of Percent Body Fat with Body Specific Gravity in Rats

Abstract
We determined the body specific gravity of young rats from their submerged weight. Trapped air in the carcass was eliminated by removing the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract and by dissolving body hair with a depilatory. Body specific gravity was highly correlated with percent fat determined by an extraction method (r = .977) over a wide range of body fat content produced by dietary alterations.