RESUMEN
We had previously reported the height-weight formula for the estimation of body surface area of adult Chinese males (this journal 6(2):87, 1984). In this study, by using the same paper cast method, a formula for the adult Chinese females was obtained from the data of 44 healthy subjects (age 18-45) coming from 15 provinces. The mean body weight, height and surface area measured were 52.13?6.22 kg, 159.3?5.18 cm and 1.546?0.105 m2 respectively. The formula thus derived was: body surface area (m2) = 0.00586H (cm) +0.0126W (kg)-0.0461. The value calculated from it was 0.03% less than the value actually measured on an average. The percentage of various body regions to the total body surface area was as follows: head, 6.33; trunk (including neck), 28.27; upper arms, 8.29; forearms, 6.65; hands, 4.52; thighs (including buttocks), 27.40; calves, 12.83 and feet, 6.65.