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Comparing estimates of body fat in children using published bioelectrical impedance analysis equations

Joanne Williams1, Melissa Wake, Michele Campbell

  • 1Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.

International Journal of Pediatric Obesity : IJPO : an Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity
|November 14, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Body mass index (BMI) may not accurately measure absolute body fat mass (BFM) in children. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) equations consistently rank children by BFM, offering a reliable measure for studies.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Body Composition Analysis
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • The association between childhood body fat mass (BFM) and weight-related health issues remains unclear.
  • Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a practical method for assessing body composition in children.
  • Existing BIA equations for estimating BFM in children have not been compared.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare body mass index (BMI) and BIA for estimating adiposity-related health risks in children.
  • To evaluate the consistency of different BIA equations in assessing pediatric body fat.
  • To determine the validity of BMI as a measure of absolute BFM in young children.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional survey of 341 healthy 5-year-old Australian children.
  • Measurements included height, weight, and BIA.
  • Percent BFM was estimated using four published BIA predictive equations; rankings were compared.

Main Results:

  • Different BIA equations yielded varying percent BFM estimates.
  • Increasing BMI correlated with increasing BFM, but with wide estimate ranges for similar BMIs.
  • Females exhibited higher percent BFM than males at the same BMI; estimates increased significantly in overweight/obese children.
  • The four BIA equations showed high correlation in ranking children by percent BFM.

Conclusions:

  • Concerns regarding BMI's accuracy in measuring absolute BFM in children are supported.
  • The high correlation among BIA equations suggests any single equation can reliably rank children by relative BFM.
  • BIA provides a consistent measure for relative body fat assessment in pediatric population and longitudinal studies.
Abstract

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