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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Validation of a new pediatric air-displacement plethysmograph for assessing body composition in infants
Guansheng Ma1, Manjiang Yao, Yan Liu
1National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing.
Insights
Air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) is a reliable and accurate method for measuring infant body composition. This new system shows excellent test-retest reliability and accuracy compared to deuterium dilution, making it suitable for research and clinical use.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Body Composition Analysis
- Infant Physiology
Background:
- Accurate body composition measurement is crucial for assessing infant growth and nutritional status.
- Existing methods may have limitations in precision or applicability to infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reliability and accuracy of a novel air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) system for infant body composition assessment.
- To compare ADP measurements with a criterion method (deuterium dilution).
Main Methods:
- Assessed between- and within-day reliability of ADP for percentage body fat (%BF) in 36 infants.
- Compared %BF measured by ADP with deuterium (2H2O) dilution in 53 infants.
- Analyzed the influence of infant behavioral state on ADP measurements.
Main Results:
- Excellent test-retest reliability was demonstrated, with low standard deviations for between-day (0.69%BF) and within-day (0.72%BF) measurements.
- ADP %BF measurements showed no significant difference compared to deuterium dilution (ADP: 20.32%BF vs. 2H2O: 20.39%BF).
- High correlation (R2=0.76) and narrow limits of agreement (-6.84%BF, 6.71%BF) were observed between ADP and 2H2O methods.
Conclusions:
- Air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) is a reliable and accurate tool for determining infant body fat percentage.
- The ADP system is not significantly affected by infant behavioral state.
- This method holds potential for both research and clinical applications in infant body composition analysis.
Background:
The accurate measurement of body composition is useful in assessments of infant growth and nutritional status.
Objective:
This study evaluated the reliability and accuracy of a new air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) system for body-composition assessment in infants.
Design:
Between- and within-day reliability was assessed by comparing the percentage body fat (%BF) obtained on consecutive days and on the same day, respectively, in 36 full-term infants. Accuracy was assessed by comparing %BF measured with the use of ADP and %BF measured with the use of deuterium (2H2O) dilution in 53 infants.
Results:
There were no significant differences in %BF between days (-0.50 +/- 1.21%BF) or within days (0.16 +/- 1.44%BF). Mean between- and within-day test-retest SDs of 0.69 and 0.72%BF, respectively, indicated excellent reliability. The %BF measurements obtained by using ADP were not significantly influenced by infant behavioral state. Mean %BF obtained by using ADP (20.32%BF) did not differ significantly from that obtained by using 2H2O dilution (20.39%BF), and the regression line [%BF(2H2O) = 0.851%BF (ADP) + 3.094] gave a high R2 (0.76) and a low SEE (3.26). The 95% limits of agreement between ADP and 2H2O (-6.84%BF, 6.71%BF) were narrower than those reported for other body-composition techniques used in infants. Individual differences between the 2 methods were not a function of body mass or fatness.
Conclusion:
ADP is a reliable and accurate instrument for determining %BF in infants, and it has the potential for use in both research and clinical settings.
