Arm fat and muscle areas in infancy.

Abstract

Jelliffee pointed out that the cross sectional arm areas represent better estimates of the relative contribution of fat and muscle to the total arm area than mid arm circumference and triceps skinfold.4To our knowledge there is no report of these arm areas measured at birth and then measured regularly throughout the first year of life. Therefore the first aim of this study was to report these mid arm fat and muscle areas from measurements collected prospectively in a population of 100 infants and to provide preliminary norms for the nutritional state of infants.In neonates Thornton et al showed that the dynamic change of tricipital skinfold thickness is related to extracellular water content.5 It is not known to what extent these dynamic changes could influence the results of arm fat and muscle areas during infancy. The second aim of this study was therefore to look at this dynamic change in tricipital skinfold thickness in order to evaluate its magnitude. Subjects and methodsThis prospective longitudinal study was designated for a target number of 100 infants born at the Centre Hospitalier Lucien Hussel of Vienne (Isere, France) between 2 January 1984 and 30 December 1985. The following conditions were required for inclusion into the study: parent's informed acceptance and good comprehension of the French language and parents living within 20 km of the town. The neonates who were included were born at full term with a birth weight of more than 2500 g, an Apgar score >6 at 5 minutes, and with no detectable malformation at clinical examination. Measurements were taken at birth (that is, before 3 days of age), and follow up measurements at 15 days (±three days); one month (±three days); and at four, six, nine, and 12 months (±seven days). Unscheduled losses, however, occurred during the study mostly because of a refusal to continue the study, or the family changed address, and the practical impossibility of keeping to the scheduled timing. Altogether 81 neonates were finally included in the study and 64 infants were measured at the age of 12 months. This sample had a large representation of families of high socioeconomic state as 88% of the fathers belonged to the second or third category of the classification of Goujard et a/6-that is, civil servants, trained personnel, tradesmen, and farm owners. An analysis of dietary data showed that the proportion of breast fed infants was 75% at birth, 59% at the age of 15 days, 45% at the age of one month, 30% at the age of 2 months, and 7% at the age of 4 and 6 months. The formula milks given -were in agreement with the recommendations of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (ESGAN) but at the age of 6 months 33% of the infants were given their diet as half cream cows' milk; this increased 42% at the age of 12 months. 256

Body Composition in Neonates: Relationship Between Measured and Derived Anthropometry with Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Measurements

“…The derived anthropometric values using equations based on the assumption that various regions of the body and extremities are cylinders (10,11) have some theoretical advantages compared with the use of simple ratios. However, this assumption is likely an oversimplification of the anatomy and is consistent with the reports of their poor agreement with body composition measured by reference laboratory methods including total body electrical conductivity (36) or DXA (37) in infants.…”

“…Some reports indicated that regional anthropometry or the ratios and formulas derived from these measurements are good predictors of fetal growth and metabolic disturbances noted in neonates who are over-or undergrown for the duration of gestation (7)(8)(9). These refinements of regional anthropometry are thought to reflect more specific body composition, namely lean mass and fat mass (10,11), which allows assessment of the quality of growth such as the extent of energy, fat and protein deposition, and the potential mechanism for disturbed metabolism in infants with abnormal in utero growth.…”

Upper arm measurements of healthy neonates comparing ultrasonography and anthropometric methods

“…For the calculation of the arm muscle area, the conventional assumptions are that: (1) the mid-arm is cylindrical; (2) the subcutaneous fat is a concentric ring evenly distributed around the muscle; (3) that fat thickness is half the TSF; (4) that the muscle compartment is circular; and (5) that the muscle includes the humeral diameter. Any variation in bone diameter is not taken account [1,3,5]. Possible source of error using conventional assumptions is the variable tissue compression relative to differences in the skin tension when measuring TSF [6].…”

“…Standards for full-term and preterm neonates have also been reported recently [3,4]. These values are extrapolated from equations derived from mid-arm circumference (MAC) and tricipital skinfold thickness (TSF) [1,3,5].…”

Estado nutricional e absorção intestinal de ferro em crianças com doença hepática crônica com e sem colestase

“…Additionally, z-scores were calculated for TSF, upper arm circumference and arm muscular area using reference values from Frisancho 25 for children more than 1 year old and values from Sann et al 26 for children less than one.…”