Comparison of Bioelectrical Impedance-Based Methods on Body Composition in Young Patients with Obesity

Abstract

(1) Background: The determination of body composition is an important method to investigate patients with obesity and to evaluate the efficacy of individualized medical interventions. Bioelectrical impedance-based methods are non-invasive and widely applied but need to be validated for their use in young patients with obesity. (2) Methods: We compiled data from three independent studies on children and adolescents with obesity, measuring body composition with two bioelectrical impedance-based devices (TANITA and BIACORPUS). For a small patient group, additional data were collected with air displacement plethysmography (BOD POD) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). (3) Results: Our combined data on 123 patients (age: 6–18 years, body mass index (BMI): 21–59 kg/m²) and the individual studies showed that TANITA and BIACORPUS yield significantly different results on body composition, TANITA overestimating body fat percentage and fat mass relative to BIACORPUS and underestimating fat-free mass (p < 0.001 for all three parameters). A Bland–Altman plot indicated little agreement between methods, which produce clinically relevant differences for all three parameters. We detected gender-specific differences with both methods, with body fat percentage being lower (p < 0.01) and fat-free mass higher (p < 0.001) in males than females. (4) Conclusions: Both bioelectrical impedance-based methods provide significantly different results on body composition in young patients with obesity and thus cannot be used interchangeably, requiring adherence to a specific device for repetitive measurements to ascertain comparability of data.

Evaluation of bioelectrical impedance analysis in measuring body fat in 6-to-12-year-old boys compared with air displacement plethysmography

“…Underestimation of %FM BIA compared %FM ADP in the current study is in general agreement with previous studies. 20,21,23,40 Previous studies have shown %FM BIA to be underestimated by 0.5 -5.6% in children and adolescents compared to %FM ADP ; although some %FM BIA prediction equations have resulted in an overestimation. 21 The mean underestimation of 3.4% found in the present study is within the range previously reported.…”

The Possibility of Using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis in Pregnant and Postpartum Women

“…BIA is used in many branches of medicine (Figure 3). It can be successfully used in both malnourished [22][23][24][25], and obese people [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. However, for patients with severe abdominal obesity, percentage of body fat may be overestimated [29].…”

“…The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of different applications of BIA in pregnant and postpartum women. Scientific articles in the Pubmed database, Wiley It can be successfully used in both malnourished [22][23][24][25], and obese people [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. However, for patients with severe abdominal obesity, percentage of body fat may be overestimated [29].…”

Body Composition in Children: What Does It Tell Us So Far?

“…The studies of Ofenheimer et al, Valencia-Sosa et al, and Thajer et al focused on the use and utility of certain body composition indicators in healthy or ill children [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. In particular, Ofenheimer et al explored serum lipid profiles in relation to body composition in a large cohort of 1394 children and adolescents (6–<18 years old), who participated in the LEAD study in 2011–2019 [ 11 ].…”

“…Thajer et al compared different methods of BIA in 123 children and adolescents (6–18 years old) with obesity in Austria [ 13 ]. More specifically, two BIA devices, namely TANITA and BIACORPUS, were used to assess body fat in all the study participants, while gold standard techniques (i.e., dual X-ray absorptiometry and air displacement plethysmography) were also applied in a subsample of volunteers.…”