Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:14:24.089Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Between-laboratory comparison of densitometry and bio-electrical impedance measurements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2008

Paul Deurenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Human Nutrition, Wageningen Agricultural University, Bomenweg 2, 6703 HD Wageningen, The Netherlands
Klaas R. Westerterp
Affiliation:
Department of Human Biology, University of Limburg, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Erica J. M. Velthuis-Te Wierik
Affiliation:
TNO-Toxicology and Nutrition Institute, PO Box 360, 3700 AJ Zeist, The Netherlands
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Body composition was measured in nine healthy, normal-weight, weight-stable subjects in three different research centres. In each centre the usual procedures for the measurements were followed. It revealed that the measurement procedures in the three centres were comparable. Body composition was measured in each centre between 09.00 and 13.00 hours after a light breakfast by densitometry (underwater weighing) and bio-electrical impedance. A single, total-body-water determination by D2O dilution was used as a reference value. Body fat determined by densitometry was significantly lower in one centre, which, however, could be completely explained by a lower body weight, probably due to water loss (the subjects refrained for a longer time from food and drinks before the measurements in that centre) and, thus, by violation of the assumptions of Siri's (1961) formula. Also, body impedance was slightly higher in that centre, indicating a lower amount of body water. Mean body fat from densitometry was also slightly lower in that centre compared with body fat determined by D2O dilution. Individual differences between body fat from densitometry and from total body water were relatively large, up to 7% body fat. The relationship between fat-free mass from densitometry and bio-electrical impedance was not different between the centres. It is concluded that differences in the relationship between body composition and bio-electrical impedance, as reported in the literature, may be due to differences in standardization procedures and/or differences in reference population.

Type
Comparison of methods for measuring body composition
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1994

References

REFERENCES

Baumgartner, R. N., Chumlea, W. C. & Roche, A. F. (1989). Estimations of body composition from bio-electrical impedance of body segments. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 221226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanchard, J., Conrad, K. A. & Harrison, G. G. (1990). Comparison of methods for estimating body composition in young and elderly women. Journal of Gerontology 45, 119124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bland, J. M. & Altman, D. G. (1986). Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurements. Lancet 1, 307310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comroe, J. H., Forster, R. E., Dubois, A. B., Briscoe, W. A. & Carlsen, E. (1977) The Lung - Clinical Physiology and Pulmonary Function Tests, 2nd ed., pp. 1323.London: Year Book Medical Publishers.Google Scholar
Deurenberg, P., Leenen, R., van der Kooy, K. & Hautvast, J. G. A. J. (1989 a). In obese subjects the body fat percentage calculated with Siri's formula is an overestimation. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 43, 569575.Google ScholarPubMed
Deurenberg, P., van der Kooy, K. & Leenen, R. (1989 b). Differences in body impedance when measured with different instruments. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 43, 885886.Google ScholarPubMed
Deurenberg, P., van der Kooy, K., Leenen, R., Weststrate, J. A. & Seidell, J. C. (1991). Sex and age specific prediction formulas for estimating body composition from bio-electrical impedance: a cross validation study. International Journal of Obesity 15, 1725.Google Scholar
Deurenberg, P., Weststrate, J. A. & van der Kooy, K. (1989 c). Is an adaptation of Siri's formula for the calculation of body fat percentage from body density in the elderly necessary? European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 43, 559568.Google Scholar
Durnin, J. V. G. A. & Womersley, J. (1974). Body fat assessed from total body density and its estimation from skinfold thickness: measurements on 481 men and women aged from 17 to 72 years. British Journal of Nutrition 32, 7797.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forbes, G. B. (1987). Human Body Composition. New York: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heitmann, B. L. (1990). Prediction of body water and fat in adult Danes from measurements of bio-electrical impedance. A validation study. International Journal of Obesity 14, 789802.Google Scholar
Lukaski, H. C. (1987). Methods for the assessment of body composition: traditional and new. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, 437456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lukaski, H. C., Johnson, P. E., Bolonchuck, W. W. & Lykken, G. E. (1985). Assessment of fat-free mass using bioelectrical impedance measurements of the human body. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 41, 81817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNeill, G., Fowler, P. A, Maughan, R. J, McGaw, B. A, Fuller, M. F., Gvozdanovic, D. & Gvozdanovic, S. (1991). Body fat in lean and obese women estimated by six methods. British Journal of Nutrition 65, 95103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, F. D., Olesen, K. H., McMurray, J. D., Parker, H. V., Ball, M. R. & Boyden, C. M. (1963). The Body Cell Mass and Its Supporting Environments. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.Google Scholar
Raaij, J. M. A, Peek, M. E. M., Vermaat-Miedema, S. H., Schonk, C. M. & Hautvast, J. G. A. J. (1988). New equations for estimating body fat mass in pregnancy from body density or total body water. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48, 2429.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scheltinga, M. R., Jacobs, D. O., Kimbrough, T. D. & Wilmore, D. W. (1991). Alterations in body fluid content can be detected by bio-electrical impedance analysis. Journal of Surgical Research 50, 461468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoeller, D. A., van Santen, E., Peterson, D. W., Dietz, W., Jaspan, J. & Klein, P. D. (1980). Total body water measurements in humans with 180 and 2H labeled water. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 33, 26862693.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siri, W. E. (1961). Body composition from fluid spaces and density: analysis of methods. In Techniques for Measuring Body Composition, pp. 223224.[Brozek, J. and Henschel, A., editors]. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Slaughter, M. H., Lohman, T. G., Boileau, R. A, Horswill, C. A., Stillman, R. J., van Loan, M. D. & Bemben, D. A. (1988). Skinfold equations for estimation of body fatness in children and youth. Human Biology 60, 709723.Google ScholarPubMed
SPSS (1988). SPSS/PC+ V24/V3.1, Base Manual. Chicago, III: SPSS Incorporation.Google Scholar
Svendson, O. L., Haarbo, J., Heitmann, B. L., Gotfredsen, A. & Christiaansen, C. (1991). Measurements of body fat in elderly subjects by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, bio-electrical impedance and anthropometry. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 53, 11171123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tagliabue, A, Cena, H., Trentani, C., Lanzola, E. & Silva, S (1992). How reliable is bio-electrical impedance analysis for individual patients? International Journal of Obesity 16, 649652.Google ScholarPubMed
Van der Kooy, K., Leenen, R., Deurenberg, P., Seidell, J. C., Westerterp, K. R. & Hautvast, J. G. A. J. (1992). Changes in fat-free mass in obese subjects after weight loss: a comparison of body composition measures. International Journal of Obesity 16, 675683.Google ScholarPubMed
Weststrate, J. A. & Deurenberg, P. (1989). Body composition in children: proposal for a method for calculating body fat percentage from total body density or skinfold thickness measurements. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 11041115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Widdowson, E. M., McCance, R. & Spray, C. M. (1951). The chemical composition of the human body. Clinical Science 10, 113125.Google ScholarPubMed