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Body composition in children based on anthropometric data. A presentation of normal values
1Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Insights
This study highlights the value of simple anthropometric measurements, like skinfold thickness and mid-upper arm circumference, for assessing body composition in children. These methods provide practical tools for estimating fat-free mass and nutritional status in pediatric practice.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Anthropometry
- Body Composition Analysis
Background:
- Assessing body composition (fat and fat-free mass) is crucial for pediatric nutritional status evaluation.
- Sophisticated body composition techniques are often impractical for routine clinical use.
- An anthropometric approach offers a simpler alternative for practical application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish reference values for skinfold thicknesses and mid-upper arm circumference.
- To utilize these anthropometric measures for deriving body fat-free mass fraction.
- To assess the utility of these measurements in estimating arm muscle area.
Main Methods:
- Utilized skinfold thicknesses as a key anthropometric measurement.
- Incorporated mid-upper arm circumference measurements.
- Applied anthropometric formulas to derive fat-free mass fraction and arm muscle area.
Main Results:
- Presented reference values for skinfold thicknesses and mid-upper arm circumference.
- Demonstrated the derivation of fat-free mass fraction using these anthropometric data.
- Showcased the calculation of arm muscle area from the collected measurements.
Conclusions:
- Anthropometric methods, despite limitations, are valuable for estimating body composition in pediatric practice.
- Simplicity of using skinfold thicknesses and mid-upper arm circumference makes them suitable for daily pediatric use.
- These measurements aid in estimating fat-free mass and protein content in children.
Unlabelled:
Knowledge of the body composition in terms of fat and fat-free mass is used in paediatrics to estimate a child's nutritional status. To obtain the fat content or protein content sophisticated techniques exist. These techniques are often difficult to apply in daily practice. An anthropometric approach is therefore relevant because of its simplicity. In this study skinfold thicknesses and mid-upperarm circumference are presented as reference values and used to derive the fat-free mass fraction of the body and the arm muscle area.
Conclusion:
Despite the shortcomings of an anthropometric approach in estimating the fraction of fat-free mass or protein content, its simplicity makes the method of calculating these fractions on skinfold thicknesses and mid-upperarm circumference valuable to apply in daily paediatric practice.