Differentiation of body fat composition between  skinfold caliper (SKF) and bioelectrical impedance  analysis (BIA) methods among professors

Background: Body fat composition which is reflected by body fat percentage (BF%) is one of the important components in disease risk evaluation. Among the methods available to measure BF%, skinfold calipers (SKF) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) are the most common used. The study is conducted to observe the difference in body fat composition measurement between skinfold caliper and bioelectrical impedance analysis methods among Professors.Method: This study involved 72 UNPAD Professors (50 ♂, 22 ♀) after fitted into criterias. BF% was measured among UNPAD Professors using SKF and BIA. After obtaining agreement by Bland-Altman Plot, the data was analyzed by muliple paired-t test according to gender, physical activity level and BMI categories. Results: The study showed no significant difference in BF% between SKF and BIA in overall population, between gender and physical activity level (p>0.05). For BMI, the only category that showed significant difference in BF% between the 2 methods is obese I group (p=0.001, p>.05).Conclusions: There is no significant difference between SKF and BIA methods according to gender, physical activity levels and BMI categories except for obese I group.

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Determination of overnutrition using mid-upper arm circumference in comparison with bioelectrical impedance analysis in children and adolescents in Benin, Nigeria

Journal of Health Research ◽

10.1108/jhr-03-2019-0051 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 68-78

Author(s):

Sylvester Oriaifo ◽

Philip Abiodun ◽

Anthony Oyovwikigho Atimati ◽

Damian Nwaneri

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Body Fat ◽

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis ◽

Screening Tool ◽

Bioelectrical Impedance ◽

Impedance Analysis ◽

Content Type ◽

Arm Circumference ◽

Fat Composition ◽

Mid Upper Arm Circumference

Purpose The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is on the increase in developing countries. Therefore, a cheap, accessible and simple screening tool such as the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) is required for the prompt assessment. The purpose of this paper is to determine the usefulness of MUAC in assessing overnutrition in comparison with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Design/methodology/approach Participants included 1,067 children aged 6–18 years recruited from private and public schools in Egor Local Government Area in Benin City, Nigeria. Body fat was estimated by BIA using a Tanita scale, whereas the MUAC was measured with a non-elastic tape. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to test the ability of MUAC to determine children and adolescents identified as overweight and obese by BIA. Findings The prevalence of overnutrition by MUAC (12.4 percent – overweight 6.0 percent and obesity 6.4 percent) was comparable to that by BIA (12.3 percent – overweight 5.4 percent, obesity 6.9 percent). There was a significant correlation between MUAC and body fat percentage, fat mass, fat mass index and fat-free mass index in both males and females (p=0.000). Research limitations/implications This study, in contrast to most other studies on the use of MUAC in the assessment of overnutrition, has the advantage of using BIA cut-offs values against body mass index which does not assess body fat composition. BIA is, however, not the gold standard in the measurement of body fat composition. The optimal MUAC cut-off values of this study may not be representative of the entire country because of its restriction to Benin. Similar studies from different parts of Nigeria will be required to validate this smoothed MUAC percentiles for use in the screening of children and adolescents for overnutrition. Originality/value MUAC compares well with BIA in this study and can be a useful, alternative and practical screening tool for assessing obesity in the resource-poor setting.

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