Upper Arm Composition as an Indicator of Body Composition and Nutritional Status of Adolescent Boys Aged 10-18 Years

Abstract

Introduction: The upper arm composition is usually assessed based on total upper arm area (TUA), upper arm muscle area (UMA), upper arm fat area (UFA) and arm fat index (AFI). It is closely associated with assessment of body composition and nutritional status. The present study aims to determine the age specific variations in upper arm composition and its usefulness in the assessment of body composition and nutritional status among adolescent boys.Materials and Methods: The study was conducted among 964 boys (aged 10 – 18 years) and belonging to the indigenous Rajbanshi population of West Bengal, India. The boys were selected from five different sub-urban government secondary schools located under Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. The anthropometric measurements of height, weight, MUAC and TSF were recorded and upper arm composition was estimated based on TUA, UMA, UFA and AFI using standard procedures. The overall body composition was evaluated using body mass index (BMI).Results: There appears to be existence of significant age-specific variations in BMI, UMA and UFA as the boys approached higher ages. The age specific means of TUA, UMA and UFA increased with age. The adolescent boys were observed to be well below the 50th percentiles of the reference population in BMI, TUA, UMA, UFA and AFI. Age and sex-specific smooth percentile curves were derived for height, weight, TSF, BMI, UMA and UFA using the L, M and S modelling approach for further evaluation of body composition.Conclusion: The present study recommends the assessment of body composition and nutritional status to improve screening of nutritional status using upper arm composition, especially in community settings so as to accurately identify the risk of lower or greater adiposity and muscularity, and thereby proposing a major opportunity to improve health through proper intervention programmes.J Nepal Paediatr Soc 2015;35(2):152-161

Use of upper arm anthropometry, upper arm muscle area-by-height (UAMAH) and midupper- arm-circumference (MUAC)-for-height as indicators of body composition and nutritional status among children

“…The measurements that are usually utilized are height, weight, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and skinfold thickness (e.g., triceps and sub-scapular) (Frisancho 1974(Frisancho , 1989Rolland-Cachera 1993;Gibson 2005;Hall et al 2007). Using these anthropometric measurements, a considerable number of epidemiological investigations have been conducted to assess body composition and undernutrition among children (e.g., Gültekin et al 2006;Chowdhury et al 2007;Chowdhury and Ghosh 2009;Sen et al 2011;Sen and Mondal 2013;Sen et al 2015). Studies have also pointed to the fact that body composition and nutritional status were affected by a number of socio-economic variables (Sen et al 2011(Sen et al , 2015Sen and Mondal 2013;Singh and Mondal 2014;Rengma et al 2016).…”

“…Upper arm muscle area (UMA) and upper arm fat area (UFA) were introduced for assessment of nutritional status of chil-dren in different community settings. Several studies have subsequently been conducted among children using UMA and UFA as reliable measures of body composition and nutritional status (e.g., Erfan et al 2003;Chowdhury and Ghosh 2009;Çiçek et al 2009;Basu et al 2010;Sen et al 2011Sen et al , 2015Sikdar 2012;Singh and Mondal 2014).…”

“…It has received considerable attention during the last decade (e.g. Bolzan et al 1999;Chowdhury and Ghosh 2009;Sen et al 2011;Senbanjo et al 2014;Singh and Mondal 2014;Sen et al 2015), but not been routinely adopted for assessment of body composition and nutritional status. Upper arm muscle area (UMA) and upper arm fat area (UFA) were introduced for assessment of nutritional status of chil-dren in different community settings.…”

“…Using these anthropometric measurements, a considerable number of epidemiological investigations have been conducted to assess body composition and undernutrition among children (e.g., Gültekin et al 2006;Chowdhury et al 2007;Chowdhury and Ghosh 2009;Sen et al 2011;Sen and Mondal 2013;Sen et al 2015). Studies have also pointed to the fact that body composition and nutritional status were affected by a number of socio-economic variables (Sen et al 2011(Sen et al , 2015Sen and Mondal 2013;Singh and Mondal 2014;Rengma et al 2016). Upper arm anthropometry is composed of upper arm muscle area (UMA), total upper arm area (TUA), upper arm fat area (UFA), arm fat index (AFI), upper arm fat area estimate (UFE) and upper arm muscle area estimate (UME) to assess body composition.…”

Assessment of Nutritional Status and Body Composition in Tibetan Adolescent girls of Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh

“…BMI, PBF, UFA and UMA are reliable indicators of adiposity among adolescents (Micozzi et al 1986;Moreno et al 2002). Several studies have been conducted among children and adolescents considering UMA and UFA as accurate measures of body composition and nutritional status (Erfan et al 2003;Chowdhury and Ghosh 2009;Çiçek et al 2009;Basu et al 2010;Sen et al 2011Sen et al , 2015Sikdar 2012;Singh and Mondal 2014). As UMA was found to be linearly correlated with total body mass, it may be considered as a fair indicator of protein malnutrition (Cicek et al 2014).…”