Related Experiment Videos
Assessment of body composition in infants and children
1Department of Human Nutrition, University of Glasgow, Yorkhill Hospitals, Scotland, UK. jjr2y@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
Insights
This review covers pediatric body composition methods, their applications in growth and obesity assessment, and selection criteria. Careful method choice is key for accurate pediatric body composition analysis.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric physiology
- Body composition analysis
- Nutritional assessment
Background:
- Understanding pediatric body composition is crucial for assessing growth, nutritional status, and public health issues like obesity.
- Infants and children differ from adults in body composition, requiring specialized methodologies.
- Existing body composition models include two-component and multicomponent approaches.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review applications of pediatric body composition methodology.
- To establish criteria for selecting appropriate methods.
- To discuss future developments in the field.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on pediatric body composition techniques.
- Analysis of theoretical models (two-component and multicomponent).
- Evaluation of bedside methods like bioelectrical impedance and skinfold thickness.
Main Results:
- Pediatric body composition methods are applied in method development, growth assessment, public health monitoring, energy expenditure interpretation, and functional significance testing.
- Two-component models offer acceptable accuracy if chosen carefully, despite fat-free mass variations.
- Multicomponent models are theoretically rigorous but often impractical for pediatric use.
Conclusions:
- Criteria for selecting pediatric body composition methods are provided.
- Bedside methods offer acceptable accuracy, but precision limitations affect change measurement.
- Future developments are needed to enhance the precision and practicality of pediatric body composition analysis.
Abstract:
The aims of this review are to consider 1) the applications of pediatric body composition methodology; 2) criteria for determining choice of method; and 3) some future developments. The major applications are: development and validation of new methods; assessment of growth or nutritional status; public health applications, such as monitoring the increasing prevalence of pediatric obesity; interpretation of data on energy expenditure; and testing the functional significance of variation in body composition. An appreciation of the underlying theoretical models (two-component and multicomponent models) is essential to an understanding of the methodology, as is an appreciation of the fact that infants and children are not "chemically mature." The two-component model generates methods that, though limited by variation in the composition of fat-free mass, have accuracy that is acceptable so long as the method in question is chosen with care. Criteria for determining choice of method are provided. Multicomponent models have a more rigorous theoretical basis, but require access to techniques that are not universally available and not always practical for pediatric use. Bedside methods, notably bioelectrical impedance and skinfold thickness, can provide acceptable accuracy, but the precision of all methods limits their ability to measure changes in body composition.