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Neonatal body composition by air displacement plethysmography in healthy term singletons: a systematic review
Cornelia Wiechers1, Sara Kirchhof2, Christoph Maas2
1Department of Neonatology, University Children's Hospital, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, Calwerstr. 7, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany. Cornelia.wiechers@med.uni-tuebingen.de.
Insights
Neonatal body composition, measured by air displacement plethysmography, offers insights into early health. This study provides reference values for healthy infants, highlighting gender and ethnic differences.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal health and development
- Body composition analysis
- Public health and non-communicable diseases
Background:
- The intrauterine environment significantly impacts immediate and long-term health outcomes.
- Neonatal body composition, particularly adiposity, may be a more sensitive indicator than birth weight.
- It can serve as an early predictor for non-communicable diseases later in life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a systematic literature review on neonatal body composition.
- To establish reference values using air displacement plethysmography in healthy infants.
- To analyze variations based on gender and ethnicity.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review using PubMed with keywords: "air displacement plethysmography", "infant", and "newborn".
- Meta-analysis of 14 studies including 6231 healthy term infants.
- Data presented as mean (Standard Deviation).
Main Results:
- Weighted mean body fat percentage was 10.0 (4.1)% and fat-free mass was 2883 (356)g.
- Female infants exhibited higher body fat (11.1%) and lower fat-free mass (2827g) compared to males.
- Caucasian infants (n=2202) had a mean body fat of 10.8 (4.1)%; data for other ethnicities are limited.
Conclusions:
- Neonatal body composition is influenced by gender and ethnicity.
- Aggregated data can serve as reference values for healthy, term, singleton infants, particularly Caucasians.
- Further research is needed for diverse ethnic groups.
Background:
There is increasing evidence that intrauterine environment and, consequently, growth in utero have both immediate and far-reaching consequences for health. Neonatal body composition might be a more sensitive marker of intrauterine environment and neonatal adiposity than birth weight and could serve as a predictor for non-communicable diseases later in life.
Methods:
To perform a systematic literature review on neonatal body composition determined by air displacement plethysmography in healthy infants. The systematic review was performed using the search terms "air displacement plethysmography", "infant" and "newborn" in Pubmed. Data are displayed as mean (Standard deviation).
Results:
Fourteen studies (including n = 6231 infants) using air displacement plethysmography fulfilled inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. In these, weighted mean body fat percentage was 10.0 (4.1) % and weighted mean fat free mass was 2883 (356) g in healthy term infants. Female infants had a higher body fat percentage (11.1 (4.1) % vs. 9.6 (4.0) %) and lower fat free mass (2827 (316) g vs. 2979 (344) g). In the Caucasian subpopulation (n = 2202 infants) mean body fat percentage was 10.8 (4.1), whereas data for reference values of other ethnic groups are still sparse.
Conclusions:
Body composition varies depending on gender and ethnicity. These aggregated data may serve as reference for body composition in healthy, term, singletons at least for the Caucasian subpopulation.
