Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Cross-sectional fat area at the forearm in children and adolescents
Oliver Fricke1, Zdenek Sumnik, Thomas Remer
1Children's Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Background:
Cross-sectional fat area (FA) and muscle area have been recently used to describe local body composition at the forearm in children and adolescents. The present analysis intends to characterize FA in a normal collective.
Methods:
FA was measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography in a study collective (DONALD study) of 296 children and adolescents. FA was analyzed in relation to fat mass (FM) measured by 4 skinfold thicknesses.
Results:
FA was significantly correlated with FM (r = 0.8). FA was positively associated with height in prepubertal individuals and pubertal females, but negatively associated with height in pubertal males. Median and range of FA are displayed for different height ranges and pubertal stages in males and females to enable analyses of FA in subgroups.
Conclusion:
Because of the positive dependence of FA on height in prepubertal individuals and pubertal females, reference values of FA may be based on height. But reference values in pubertal males or in a mixed pubertal population should be rather based on pubertal stages than on height.
Related Concept Videos
01:02Hypodermis
01:27Signs of Puberty
01:14Assessing Body Temperature - Axilla
Step 1: Perform hand hygiene and put on clean gloves to maintain infection control and prevent cross-contamination.
Step 2: Prepare the patient by explaining the procedure to ensure understanding and cooperation. Ensure privacy, expose the axilla, and inform the patient that minimal movement is crucial for an accurate reading.
Step 3: Adjust the patient’s clothing to expose only the axilla. It minimizes...