Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026

Paradigms of Lower Extremity Electrical Stimulation Training After Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: February 1, 2018
Body mass index underestimates adiposity in women with spinal cord injury
Ceren Yarar-Fisher1, Yuying Chen, Amie B Jackson
1Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Objective:
To assess the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and adiposity as well as the influence of injury level on this relationship in 24 women with spinal cord injury (SCI) and 23 able-bodied (AB) women with similar age, race, and BMI.
Design And Methods:
Body composition was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Analysis of covariance was performed to compare total and regional soft tissue percent fat (PF) measures between groups.
Results:
Women with SCI had a higher soft tissue PF than AB women at any given BMI. The BMI-adjusted soft tissue PF (mean ± SE) was (44.4 ± 1.8)%, (37.8 ± 1.3)%, and (35.9 ± 1.1)% for tetraplegic, paraplegic, and AB women, respectively. The BMI explained about equal amounts of the variance in soft tissue PF among paraplegic and AB women (65%), but only 28% in tetraplegic women.
Conclusion:
This study confirms a limited use of BMI in measuring adiposity in women with SCI, particularly among those with tetraplegia. Our observation of lower BMI cutoff points for defining obesity (28 kg/m(2) for paraplegia and 21 kg/m(2) for tetraplegia) needs further confirmation. The underweight/malnutrition issue also deserves the consideration while proposing the ideal weight and BMI range for persons with SCI.
Related Concept Videos
Spinal Cord: Cross-sectional Anatomy
Gray Matter and its Components
Central to the gray matter is...
Spinal Cord Injury ll: Pathophysiology
Spinal Cord: Gross Anatomy
Spinal Cord
Spinal Cord: Information Processing
Sensory Information Processing
Sensory information processing begins at the sensory receptors located in the skin and other tissues, which detect somatic sensory stimuli such as touch, temperature, or pain. These receptors function as catalysts, initiating...
Secondary Spinal Cord Injury llI: Pathophysiology

