Multicompartment model of body composition assessment in Chinese-American adults

Using hydrodensitometry, dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, and deuterium dilution techniques, multiple compartment body composition assessment was performed on 29 adult Chinese-American men (n = 11) and women (n = 18). The purpose of the investigation was to determine if significant differences exist in the estimation of percentage of body fat (%BF) and fat-free mass (FFM), based on 2-, 3-, and 4-compartment models of body composition. Height, weight, and the body mass index (BMI) for the men were 170 cm, 63 kg, and 22 kg/m² ; for the women, values were 161 cm, 59 kg, and 23 kg/m² , respectively. Estimated values for %BF from density alone and density adjusted for TBW were not significantly different for either the men or women (20.5% vs. 18.8%) and (28.2% vs. 27.4%). However, %BF estimated from the 4-compartment model of density, TBW and BMC resulted in significantly lower values for both groups, 17.5% for men and 26.8% for women. The lack of a significant difference in %BF between density only and density adjusted for TBW indicates that TBW was within the accepted constancy value associated with hydrodensitometry. When density was adjusted for variation in both TBW and BMC, a significant decline occurred in the estimate of %BF for men, but not for women. The average TBW to FFM ratio was 0.75., 0.74, and 0.73 when using FFM values from 2-, 3-, and 4-compartment models, respectively. The average BMC to FFM ratio from two-, three-, and four-compartment estimates of FFM were 0.054, 0.053, and 0.052 for the men and 0.060, 0.059, and 0.059 for the women. The results suggest that Chinese-American men and women have similar TBW/FFM ratios, but the BMC/FFM ratio is higher in women than men. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 9:21-27 © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.