Effect of fluid and food intake on the body composition evaluation of elderly persons

Several studies have shown that liquid and food intake interfere with the evaluation of body composition in adults. However, since there are no reports about this interference in the elderly population, the need to fast for this evaluation may be dispensable.

The objective of the present study was to assess the influence of liquid and solid food on the measurement of body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Forty-one male volunteers aged 62 to 87 years participated in the study. The subjects were submitted to evaluation of body composition by DXA and BIA under fasting conditions and 1 hour after the ingestion of breakfast (500 ml of orange juice and one 50 g bread roll with butter).

There was no significant difference in the variables fat-free mass (FFM) or fat mass (FM) between the fasting condition and the evaluation performed 1 hour after the meal as measured by BIA or DXA. There was also no significant difference when the same variables were compared between methods.

In the present study, the ingestion of 500 ml orange juice and of one bread roll with butter by elderly subjects did not affect the results of the parameters of body composition determined by BIA or DXA. Thus, these exams could be performed without the rigor of fasting, often poorly tolerated by the elderly.