Ultrasound Techniques Applied to Body Fat Measurement in Male and Female Athletes

Abstract

Context: For athletes in disciplines with weight categories, it is important to assess body composition and weight fluctuations.Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of measuring body fat percentage with a portable ultrasound device possessing high accuracy and reliability versus fan-beam, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).Design: Cross-validation study. Setting: Research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 93 athletes (24 women, 69 men), aged 23.5 6 3.7 years, with body mass index 5 24.0 6 4.2 and body fat percentage via DEXA 5 9.41 6 8.1 participated. All participants were elite athletes selected from the Institut National des Sports et de l'Education Physique. These participants practiced a variety of weight-category sports.Main Outcome Measure(s): We measured body fat and body fat percentage using an ultrasound technique associated with anthropometric values and the DEXA reference technique.Cross-validation between the ultrasound technique and DEXA was then performed.Results: Ultrasound estimates of body fat percentage were correlated closely with those of DEXA in both females (r 5 0.97, standard error of the estimate 5 1.79) and males (r 5 0.98, standard error of the estimate 5 0.96). The ultrasound technique in both sexes had a low total error (0.93). The 95% limit of agreement was 20.06 6 1.2 for all athletes and did not show an overprediction or underprediction bias. We developed a new model to produce body fat estimates with ultrasound and anthropometric dimensions.Conclusions: I n sport disciplines with weight categories, assessing individual weight fluctuations and their consequences on body composition is important to optimize the performances of athletes during competitions. 1-3 Just before a competition, some athletes need to lose a large quantity of body weight in a short period of time. This weight loss is difficult for many athletes because it often results in poorer performances. 4,5 It is, therefore, necessary to determine each athlete's ideal weight category. For that purpose, knowledge of body composition in relation to total body fat (BF) and fatfree mass (FFM) is required. Optimizing these components is essential for improving physical training for each athlete.To evaluate BF percentage (BF%), a noninvasive portable ultrasound device that measures the thickness of subcutaneous fat and has been validated on sedentary participants can be used. Pineau et al 6 cross-validated the portable ultrasound technique (UT), air-displacement plethysmography, and bioelectric impedance (BIA) with fan-beam, dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in 89 healthy volunteers. Body fat percentage estimates by UT were more accurate than those obtained with air-displacement plethysmography or BIA, regardless of sex.A cross-validation study between UT and the DEXA reference was carried out and the results compared on 93 athletes. The portable UT measures the thickness of subcutaneous fat. These measurements were taken at specific points on all participants for the estimation of BF, BF%, and F...

Body composition assessment in athletes: A systematic review

“…The most recent studies dealing with the precise and reliable body composition analysis of athletes emphasize a new method of subcutaneous adipose tissue topography using Lipometer [28]. This method is presented as a quick, non-invasive, safe and accurate in body composition analysis, the latter being its most important characteristic.…”

“…The results of this pioneering studies suggest the reliability of this new method. However, although the initial results are promising, the accuracy and evaluation remain to be explored and compared with "reference methods" [27,28].…”

“…This method is mainly used to determine the amount of visceral fat in obese humans [27]. Pineau et al investigated the reliability of %BF measured by ultrasound, compared with DXA as a reference method [28].…”

Body composition and cardiometabolic disease risk factors in captive baboons (Papio hamadryas sp.): Sexual dimorphism

“…The magnitude of the sex difference in relative adiposity reported here is in accord with observations in aged baboons (Chavez et al, 2008) and, as in humans, is likely to be caused by genetic, endocrine, and metabolic differences (Power and Schulkin, 2008). The levels of adiposity in these baboons would be considered very low in most human populations (Pineau et al, 2009); however, these body fat percentages are normal for baboons consuming a low-fat diet in an open housing environment (Comuzzie et al, 2003). While this environment differs from that of modern sedentary humans, it permits the assessment of sex differences without the potential confounding effects of an obesogenic environment.…”

Agreement between ultrasound and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry in assessing percentage body fat in college‐aged adults

“…In addition to DXA, ADP and HW, research-grade point-ofcare ultrasound techniques have become common clinical BCA methods (Pineau et al, 2007(Pineau et al, , 2009Stolk et al, 2008). The BodyMetrix â BX-2000 ultrasound system (ULTRA) (IntelaMetrix, Concord, CA, USA) estimates %BF, fat-free mass, fat mass and has the capacity to independently identify adipose tissue using ultrasound waves that travel into body tissues.…”