Body Composition Measurement and its Role in Monitoring the Efficacy of Dietary Control for Disciplinary Purposes and the Tailoring of the Female Figure Enforced by Corporal Punishment

Hi all you authoritarian and disciplnarian types out there.

It's over two weeks since my last posting here. It's also a couple of days past my new knee's first birthday – all together now: 'Happy birthday, Mr Toyntanen's right knee' – but that's another story!

But isn't that weird? Consider: In the future - as more and more of us have more and more parts replaced, rebuilt or whatever – more and more often the tentative, hesitant query as to a person's years will likely be met with the counter-query: Which bit?

Sorry! I digress. What I had planned for my net posting was another piece on admission procedures. But then, a few days back, I received an email notification of a comment (actually two left in quick succession) which had been left on a blog entry I'd made way back in 2011 (Friday, 15 April 2011, to be exact).

I must say it's gratifying to see there are those who are willing to trawl through the archive. Especially as last time I looked the search facility didn't seem to be working properly. But, boy, that was a long way back! Although I have to say, it's just scratching the surface; after all, this blog's archive stretches way back to August 2008, to just after INSTITUTIONALISED VOLUME 1: BEYOND THE STANFORD EXPERIMENT, went 'live' on the self publishing site, LULU!

The subject at the time had been enforced weight gain (though I've since become more interested in enforced weight reduction and strictly-supervised dietary restriction – a subject touched upon in the new book, though not in the tightly-regulated, planned clinical / institutional way you might imagine.) The title was - 'WEIGHT GAIN AND THE RECALCITRANT TEENAGER: ENCOURAGED RATHER THAN FORCED –DISCUSS' – and posited the idea that through psychological manipulation it is possible to encourage overeating and that this approach was potentially more rewarding to the true authoritarian, with the application of a little imagination, then the methods often expounded by other authors and published elsewhere (involving force feeding and the like) or even the “clear the plate or get across my lap for a few stripes from my belt” type of approach. Perhaps some of you may remember - but if not; may I suggest a quick read through before going any further (click here or on the blog article tittle, above to visit). 

The anonymous commentator was talking about weighing and measuring and awarding penalties and so on, and in reply I found myself extoling the virtues of acquiring body composition data– fat percentage etc - rather than just relying on weighing scales and the tape measure. I pasted up a couple of quick replies – the found myself penning the missive presented below. Far too large for use as a comment, I thought I'd run it up the flagpole here and see who salutes.

BODY COMPOSITION MEASUREMENT

To ascertain the subject's body composition on one of those domestic 'bio-impedance'-measuring bathroom weighing scale type devices merely requires that she be weighed barefoot and standing with her the soles of her feet in contact with two conductive areas or pads – typically footprint-shaped metallic areas.

Obviously there is a requirement for a standard set of stipulations governing the subject's state of undress and so on for the sake of precision and reproducibility of results as regards the recording of her weight, but not the bio-impedance measurement, per se, which will be unchanged. Having said that, it is important to understand that any discrepancy in weight (and height measurement) will be mirrored by a discrepancy in the deduced fat percentage, lean mass and so on based on the impedance measurement. But as most will only be interested in the CHANGE in weight and body composition recorded over time rather than in absolute values, all that is really required is that she should be identically clothed for each weighing. The point is this: Nudity - whether partial or total - is not strictly speaking a requirement, though of course that is open to the discretion of the disciplinarian.

Callipers for assaying or estimating body composition based on the measurement of skin fold thickness are inexpensive, easily available, whether for home or institutional use, but of course need a modicum of skill in use. The latter comes with a little practice – as I said before – but the details can be gleaned from the internet or (at the risk of being branded a Luddite) just about any good dietetics or human nutrition textbook.

The point is, whereas the bio-impedance method – for domestic use – requires only a few moments standing on what amount to glorified bathroom scales, the estimation of body composition by skin fold thickness measurement is far more personally invasive and intrusive, involved and long winded and a little bit tedious to be honest – aspects one might think advantageous, given the context within which our discussion is taking place. Skin fold thickness measurement using callipers - if it is to be a reliable and repeatable indicator of body fat percentage - involves repeated measurements taken at several different sites on the body.

For a quick easy rough and ready estimate the traditional site is sub-scapular, which involves taking a reading of the thickness of what amounts to a pinch of that fleshy bit we all have just below the shoulder blades – thus the term, 'sub-scapular'; below the bloody shoulder blades, you see. Now at the very least, if dressed that is going to entail her holding up her top. But without too much difficulty a compelling case can be made for removing her upper half entirely – and it goes without saying the presence of bra straps etc can seriously hamper obtaining a reliable measurement, especially as the pounds pile on and she becomes a little more fleshier (bountiful?) 'up top'.

Usually – as commonly the case in scientific measurement and data gathering – the average of three independent readings would be taken (and how long the disciplinarian might care to fuss over this processes is completely up to their discretion, and the time they might have on their hands - after all, no responsible 'care-giver' would want to risk errors creeping in where their charge's health is concerned).

This averaging of three readings would ordinarily be the case for each sampling site used where a multi-site assessment regimen is used – and the latter is by far the most reliable and repeatable method. Other sites commonly used in body fat assessment by skin fold thickness measurement include the lower belly and 'supra-iliac crest' (just above the 'horns' forming the outermost part of the upper pelvic region – those bits that protrude in bony-hipped women).

Just three sites and three readings taken per site and already our heroine's weight gain monitoring programme is turning into something of a ritual, with nine painstaking measurements required. And the same approach is equally efficacious for monitoring weight loss of course, or the efficacy of an enforced program of exercise: After all, unless you're one of those whose aim it is to create a flesh monster – not MY kind of thing at ALL – there will be times when switching her over to a reducing diet will be desired.

In addition one must take into account the fact that there are several other sites on the body which are more or less commonly used for body fat percentage assessment by this method. Two such sites are the triceps (rear of the upper arm) and biceps. The latter two sites are of course easily assessable without any special preparation if something short sleaved is worn. But one would hope that within a home schooling environment – for example - setup to cater for the older girl or young woman beyond the legally decreed minimum school leaving age and who has been taken out from mainstream education as a consequence, the private tutor or governess hired to oversee the continuing education process would possess the sense to insist on the wearing of a school uniform, at least for schooling, to encourage the correct pedagogic mindset.

Under such circumstances one might not be surprised to find certain old fashioned values still being held as to what constitutes a ‘traditional’ school uniform, with the resulting styling easily harking back quite a few decades. Thus it wouldn’t be surprising to find her in a long-sleaved starched blouse during the colder months and a long-sleeved variation on the traditional school summer dress as the weather warms. I know this seems a digression from the point of monitoring weight gain (or loss) but there IS a point; and it is this:

If her governess or tutor knows her stuff It will doubtless have been drummed into the girl the importance of maintaining her uniform in an absolutely pristine condition - clean, mark and crease-free - enforced, of course, by frequent uniform inspections and backed up by suitable penalties and repercussions for transgressions, necessitated by the choice of fabrics which crease at the drop of a hat. Razor-sharp knife pleats must remain just that and stiff starched ironed blouses must remain stiff and as blemish-free as if they just left the ironing board.

Under such circumstances as these, On NO ACCOUNT should she be allowed to crumple the sleaves of her blouse or dress by rolling them up to give access to her upper arm. Nor will she want to, if she has been properly trained. And by properly trained, it is meant to the point at which, other than when focused on written impositions and the like, the majority of her waking moments revolve around checking and rechecking her appearance, from time to time nervously glancing up from the school desk at the floor mirror deliberately angled towards her for exactly that purpose, always the same questions running through her mind as she catches sight of herself:

“Am I slouching? Is my blouse getting crumpled? Is my back straight enough to prevent it? Am I siting on my skirt, creasing the pleats? Did I remember to lift the hem as I sat down so only my knickers are touching the seat? Are my knees and ankles pressed together sufficiently closely?

From this you can take that even for the least personally intrusive measurement sites a substantial level of undress will be required. In the case of the long-sleaved dress, even measurements involving the upper arm will necessitate her stripping right down to her underwear. If she is wearing a gymslip and blouse ensemble then in order to take off her blouse the top half of the gymslip – the shoulder straps - will have to be undone and although the bodice can be folded down fore and aft there is potential for creasing the fabric and thus it might not be surprising to find the girl herself to prefer to step out of the skirt and to take the whole thing off. Of course the blouse would be expected to be neatly folded, in the way it had been when it first arrived in its cellophane wrapper and the gymslip placed on a hanger as neatly as if arrived freshly-pressed from the cleaners. All this adds to the ritual, the tedium serving as a reminder that she is no longer free to do as she pleases, she is not like other girls her own age, that she is under supervision and controlled to an extent that most of her peers wouldn’t think possible.

Just HOW intrusive these body composition investigations need be is up to whoever is making the decisions. There are other sites on the body where skin fold thickness may be measured. Ok, these might not be sites legitimately taken into account in mainstream medicine or dietetics – but the girl herself doesn’t need to know that. Thus measurements might be taken of the fold of flesh where the bottom meets with the top of the thighs or the upper parts of the inside of the thighs.

In terms of underwear, even the legitimate oft-used measurement sites of the lower tummy and at the sides at the top of the pelvis (iliac crest) will involve a bothersome level of disrobing if our chubby young lady is wearing a girdle (as ideally she should be, if being ‘plumped up’) and / or the sort of high-waisted short-legged bloomer-style knickers that somehow in my mind seem to fit the scenario. Taking measurements at the additional sites suggested – the upper inner thigh and that roll of tissue beneath the overhang of the bottom – will involve her having to peel down her knickers, at least in order to reach that latter site.

You’ll note I say ‘peel down’ rather than ‘take off’ or ‘remove’, as I believe there is something to be said for having her keep her knickers at ‘half mast’ rather than have her step out of them completly. A lot of fuss can be made about this, obliging her peel her knickers down to give access to her rear end – which she'll do while trying to keep the gusset in place as much as possible to spare her blushes – and then having her pull them back up again, of course insisting the backseam is pulled up snugly and her whole bottom covered as if by a drum skin, only to have to roll the legs (assuming a short-legged bloomer style) with their flesh-pinching elasticated openings up tight into the groin so the callipers can take a measurement of a pinch of skin taken as high up in the inner thigh as possible.

In an institutional environment how relevent all this ritualistic disciplined removal rearranging and replacing of items of clothing is to the actual procedure depends very much on the nature of the establishment we are talking about.

Given some kind of reformatory, workhouse or psudo-scholastic charity or church-run home for 'ruaways and waifs' the broad outline might be very much as outlined above, though the details will obviously differ somewhat dependent on attire.

Given the background of a secure care home or privately-run mental hospital, our unfortunate detainee might well be permantly in pyjamas, nightdress or other night attire in any case, but one can easily imagine her having to change into one of those brief-hemmed open-backed hospital examination gowns and being marched down the corriddor – or pushed along in a wheelchair – from the locked secure ward to the clinician's room or doctor's office; perhaps on a daily basis.

Actualy, given the ease with which such garments and various bits of medical equipment may be aquired nowadays, a hospital exam gown of the type and design outlined above could just as equally provide the answer in the domestic environment as in the clinical.... Just an idea.

I'm out and about today, working from a couple of coffee bars while moving around, so I hope you'll forgive me for not including illustrations (and also for the spelling / typo errors I KNOW will have slipped through, since the spell checker is not working on this machine; and as those regular visitors among you will know, I am very, VERY dyslexic).

It is my intention to return to this post and updated it with a few relevant pics (particularly as many among you may well be mystified by all this talk of callipers for measuring skinfold thickness) perhaps later today or, failing that, on Wednesday when next I am at home for any length of time... So keep 'em peeled!