Justification of anthropometric empirical indicator (AEI) by digital chest and pelvic X-rays: a comparative scenario...

Obesity is an abnormal accumulation of body fat directly proportional to reduced life expectancy. Treatment of this ailment should be preceded by proper and accurate assessment of the degree of obesity.

The main objective is the justification of anthropometric empirical indicator (AEI) by the utilization of chest and pelvic radiographs, so that precise measurement of obesity on economical grounds can be manifested. Also, the subsequent objective is to establish a comparative scenario between dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and novel, portable, bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA)-based body composition analyzer, MI-105 (Meditech International Inc. India).

The cross-sectional design was adopted in the present study, in which 20 female participants from urban south India were involved. The measurements of body composition, anthropometry and chest (covering the region from neck to abdomen) as well as hip radiography of the studied population were acquired.

The higher significant difference of ≤0.001 was evidenced in all female studied population in the main body composition parameters measured by DXA and low-cost BIA. The same framework of significance is applicable to AEI, AEI (image morphed) and AEI (image automatic).

The novel-derived parameters: AEI (image morphed) and AEI (image automatic) can precisely gauge obesity and can be the effective alternatives for high-cost DXA. In addition, low-cost BIA-based body composition analyzer can also be the better substitute for DXA.