Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the interrelationships of body composition variables derived from simple anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance (BIA) and dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). POPULATION, MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 230 healthy preschool children (118 males and 112 females) age 4-6 years, attending a day care center, were examined to determine body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Percentage of body fat content (%BF) was predicted by BIA (Maltron BF- 900) and DXA (Lunar DPX-L, pediatric software). RESULTS: BMI and WC did not show significant differences among sex, while %BF by BIA or DXA did. BIA measures were lower than DXA s (p <0.0001). Correlation between BIA vs. anthropometric methods and WC vs. DXA were moderate (Pearson r= 0.43 to 0.53), whereas the other correlations were strong (r= 0.71 to 0.83). However Bland Altman comparison showed wide limits of agreement between BIA and DXA; BIA significantly underestimated %BF as determined by DXA (p <0.0001). CONCLUSION: The methods used to estimate body composition in healthy preschool children highly correlated. However, the Bland Altman procedure suggests that BIA and DXA should not be used interchangeably.
Rodríguez et al. (Tue,) studied this question.